Shadows of the Night: Book One: The Disappearance
by Satan Abraham
Summary: IceClan has always been different than the other clans. Not only is the current leader sixteen moons old, but the cats have always been a bit...odd. Now, with a prophecy uncovered and a disappearing leader, the clans will be tested and broken. Book One.
1. Prologue: Icestar

**SotN is going to work a _little _different this time. We're going to get to the plot much quicker, instead of taking sixteen chapters.**

**AsTheDarknessFalls: **Because I thought I could improve it greatly. And I have an epic idea. :D

**101Icestormxx: **Haha, I can't wait either. :D

**TabbyCat47: **Ah, tons of people re-do their stories. Not all of them redo as much as you do, however. XDD

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><p>The gathering had gone smoothly, for the most part. Sure, there had been a bit of an...uproar when Lightstar had announced that Iceheart was his deputy, but that was to be expected. After all, the small white tom was only sixteen moons old as well as being the leader's son. Favoritism had obviously been shown.<p>

But now they were returning home, stumbling through the darkened forest. A few of the apprentices were giggling...probably about how handsome he was, Iceheart thought, completely disregarding the fact that it was almost pitch black and...well, they couldn't see his complete and utter attractiveness in this light.

The tom next to him, a rather silent tom called Sootsplash, stopped moving. "They're here," he hissed.

"What do you-" Iceheart was cut off by a cat colliding with him, slamming the deputy into the ground. Iceheart let out a hiss, unsheathing his claws and sliding out of the other cat's grip.

The white tom bristled, facing his opponent. _Great, he's at least three times my size. Well, what about that idea I had..? _Iceheart wondered, searching the battlefield for Shadestorm, or Courageflame. Even that apprentice, Courageflame's son, would work.

Eventually, hiding from the large ginger tom that had attacked him in the first place, he spotted Shadestorm. "Shadestorm!" Iceheart hissed, knocking him away from the scarred black tom he was wrestling. "It's time."

Shadestorm looked at him, confusion evident in his dark blue eyes. "Plan? Iceheart, I was having fun!"

"I know," Iceheart meowed drily. "Now hurry up, we won't be free for long."

"Oh, that!" Shadestorm meowed, nodding. "Okay, go for it, I've got your back."

Iceheart narrowed his eyes and went for the nearest tree, clawing his way up the bark. Shadestorm followed him, defending him from any attackers.

With a heave, the small white deputy reached the first branch. "Can we...stop now?" Shadestorm panted, drawing himself up onto the branch to stand next to Iceheart.

He shook his head. "No. We need to go up a bit higher, so maybe it'll knock down a few others. You can stay here if you want, but beware of falling branches." With that, Iceheart continued up the tree, kicking down branches that were small enough or ready to fall down anyway. Shadestorm dodged them, pressing himself up against the bark of the elm.

Once Iceheart got to the top, he looked over the battlefield. They were losing. Badly. Gritting his teeth, he began to work on one of the main branches of the tree, one that split off into many others. _I hope they stay out of the way..._he thought, loosening the branch. _But, even if we don't kill the rogues, they'll be scared off._

With a creak, the branch was loose. Iceheart leaped onto another before it could fall, pushing it down with his back paws. Peering through the branches after hearing the thud, he noticed Shadestorm wasn't on the branch he had been on earlier.

"This can't be good..." Iceheart muttered, leaping from branch to branch until he got to the ground. "Shadestorm?" he called, pushing past two stunned rogues that were staring ahead of them, toward the branch he'd pushed to the ground.

"Aw, these clan kitties almost killed one o' their own!" A sarcastic voice called. It was the tom Shadestorm had been fighting earlier, glee burning in his golden eyes. "But, it didn't quite kill 'im. I guess I'll have to finish this lil' kitty off."

Iceheart watched in horror as the tom sauntered up to the multitude of branches and dug an unconcious Shadestorm out of the mix.

_StarClan, I'm horrible..._

The black tom drew up a paw, claws unsheathed.

And in one swipe, Shadestorm was killed.

"Shadestorm," Courageflame whispered. "Shadestorm."

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><p>His brother couldn't be dead. No, it was simply impossible. His brother was not dead. He was just playing a joke, just like always did.<p>

Once they got back to camp, Shadestorm would be completely fine. Completely fine.

The thought made Courageflame giggle. It was pretty funny, if you thought about it. Shadestorm had everyone fooled!

Oh, and Lightstar was dead. That was a bit depressing, especially since the new leader would be Iceheart.

But he did have to congratulate Iceheart on giving Shadestorm an excellent opportunity for the prank. The rogue must have been in on it, too! And the rogue was a good actor, he made it look like he had actually swiped his claws over Shadestorm's neck and made the ground get soaked with blood.

It made Courageflame wonder where they had gotten the blood, but maybe the rogue had stabbed himself in the paw.

Or, Shadestorm had very quickly bitten him! Yes, that made sense!

He couldn't wait to tell his brother he had it all figured out.

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><p>"Are you ready to get your nine lives?"<p>

The voice seemed to echo throughout the hollow. In front of Iceheart was a large council of StarClan members. He recognized a few; Lightfoot and Crowflight and Treewhisker. He did wonder who would be giving him his nine lives...and he wondered where Bramblepaw was.

"Y-yeah. I think I'm ready," Iceheart replied, taking a deep breath.

There was a movement among the StarClan cats, and soon a small, calico she-cat pushed her way to the front. "Bramblepaw!" Iceheart blurted out, unable to keep himself from keeping silent.

The she-cat sent a dazzling smile his way. "Hey, Ice. I'm here to give you your first life," she meowed lightly, flicking her tail tip back and forth. She padded closer to him, green eyes narrowing into slits. "With this life, I give you ferocity to defend your clan."

As soon as she touched noses with him, he felt the stabbing pain. He let the pain envelop him, for it seemed so...Bramblepaw. There was an essence of the she-cat he'd grown up with in the life; he'd overheard his father saying her warrior name would probably be Bramblerage.

As soon as Bramblepaw drew back another familiar cat padded toward him. It was the sleek black-and-white tom that had been his mentor and deputy before him, Swiftclaw. "Hello, my apprentice. Staying out of trouble, I hope?" the tom purred. "Don't answer that, I know you haven't. With this life, I give you tact. Use it – and when I say use it, I mean use it – to keep your clan on good terms with the others."

The pain of this life was more controlled, instead of the seemingly random points of pain Bramblepaw's life had. A layer of pain seemed to lay over him, eventually sinking into his skin. "This isn't so bad," he muttered.

Swiftclaw padded back quickly, and Shadestorm took his place. "Wow, just joined StarClan and already giving leaders their nine lives. Didn't even get the chance to groom the bits of tree out of my fur," he meowed, grinning. "Anyway, with this life I give you experience. Use it to make good decisions that benefit the clan."

The feeling that came with this one was...different, to put it nicely. It seemed light, but then...underneath the pleasantry it was dark, foreboding, and all-around creepy. _It must be true, that a the feeling that comes with a life reflects the cat giving the life..._

Next came Strikeheart's late mate and the mother of Kestrelkit and Fawnkit. Sunheart. Iceheart used to have a crush on the she-cat – she was Bramblepaw's sister, but didn't share the energy that her sister had – but she'd never liked him. "Hello, Iceheart," she meowed, her green eyes, so much like Bramblepaw's, sparkling. "With this life I give you love. Use it well." There was no explanation for the last part.

There was no pain in this life. It was simply bliss.

"I don't see why I need to give a life, I barely know the cat," a voice growled. _Midnightlight. _Iceheart guessed, and, looking up, realized he was right. The slim black she-cat padded toward him, sighing. "With this life I give you sanity, 'cause StarClan knows we need a bit around here."

It was a bit like Bramblepaw's, Iceheart mused. Out of control pain, stabbing at random parts of his body. The main target seemed to be his brain.

As soon as the life was over, a dark gray she-cat was standing in front of him. "Hello, Iceheart," she meowed quietly.

"But – you're deaf – you've never been able to pronounce my name."

"Do you think I'd be deaf in StarClan?" Quietpaw asked, tilting her head to the side. "I think not. With this life, I give you silence. Sometimes you must listen, and not speak."

Iceheart's tongue felt heavy, and he felt a wave of sadness wash over him. He could understand why; the young she-cat had killed herself a moon into her apprenticeship because of extreme teasing. Her brother was no help, always moping around himself.

As soon as the life was lifted, he looked at her. "I'm sorry-"

"Listen, do not speak," she reminded.

The next cat that came was much brighter – in pelt color and personality. "Hi Iceheart! You've grown up, haven't you?" It was Stormylight, the elder that had so often given him advice on she-cats and told him stories of his own exploits. "With this life, I give you ignorance. It helps sometimes." He gave Iceheart a wink and touched noses with him.

It was so playful it was almost revolting. There was no seriousness, simply light, fluffy happiness. There was bliss in ignorance.

The next to cats padded up together. It was his mother, Darkflash of MoonClan and his father, Lightstar, former leader of IceClan. "I shall give you your next life," his mother meowed. "With this life I give you perseverance, to make it through the hardest times."

The main component in this life was pounding fear, but hiding under that was the undying will to go on. _Must be what she felt, sneaking out to see my father._

"Iceheart, you were named after the first leader of IceClan-"

"That's me!" A gray-and-white tom called from the front of the group of StarClan cats. The bright ginger she-cat next to him smacked him with her paw. "Sorry!"

"As I was saying, you were named after the first leader of IceClan. With this life, I give you memory. Remember the past mistakes of other leaders and do your best to avoid them," Lightstar dipped his head to touch noses with his son, leaving him with an extremely paralyzing life. "Do your best, my son."

"And we name you Icestar, new leader of IceClan!" the gray-and-white cat yowled. "Icestar! Icestar!"

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><p><strong>Much longer than the original, no?<strong>


	2. Chapter One: Nightpaw

**Hi! :) Welcome to the next installment of Shadows of the Night: Book One: The Disappearance. **

**101Icestormxx: **Thanks. :) I like it better this time around, too.

**AsTheDarknessFalls: **Yeah, I like this version better, as well. It's always better to explain stuff, and battles are fun. :3

**TabbyCat47: **Yeah, StarClan definitely needs a bit of sanity. x3

**As always, bold and italicized is Nightpaw's voice.**

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><p>"Gathering, okay!"<p>

Nightpaw rolled his eyes at his leader; the cat was way too inexperienced to be anything other than a warrior. It was times like these that he almost agreed with Daypaw.

_**You finally agree with me. Yay!**_

_Oh, shut up._

"The cats that will be going are...well, myself, of course, Tigerflame, Juniperberry, Strikeheart, Sootsplash, Flakestorm, Talonstrike, Swifttalon? Um, and Nightpaw, Blizzardpaw, Kestrelpaw and Fawnpaw," Icestar meowed, stumbling over his words.

_**Y'know, he used to be a good public speaker. Guess th' stress is gettin' to him.**_

"You should get something to eat," Tigerflame meowed, nodding at the clan. Nightpaw saw Icestar flatten his ears in embarrassment.

"Hey, Blizzardpaw, you should share this rabbit with me,"

Nightpaw's head whipped around to see Talonstrike, a warrior about the same age as Icestar, offer a plump rabbit to Blizzardpaw, a bright white, bubbly she-cat.

Normally, Nightpaw found cats like her annoying, but...every she-cat he'd ever liked had been outgoing and beautiful. Not that he'd ever talk to any of them; he was just cursed like that.

_**Cursed? Strange choice of words, there, Nighty.**_

Nightpaw's eyes narrowed, stalking over to the fresh-kill pile. He didn't know why he was so irritated; it was probably the combination of Daypaw and Talonstrike that was grating on his nerves. He accidentally brushed Fawnpaw on his way there, who jumped away quickly.

What was wrong with him? Why was it, when he accidentally brushed against a cat, they'd jump away as if they'd been struck?

_**There are too many things wrong with you to list, Nighty. First of all, ya hear voices inside your head. In case you didn't know, tha's not normal. Secon'ly, ya got no friends. Not meanin' to sound blunt. Actually, I am. Never min' the last bit. Thirdly-**_

_Just shut up, okay? You are the reason that everything's going wrong!_

_**You've been mopin' around ever since you've been able ta think for yerself.**_

Nightpaw's teeth tore into the vole he'd chosen, taking out his frustration on the dead animal. Enjoying the taste of the warm meat – it must have been caught quite recently – and blood on his tongue, he finished his meal happily – well, as happily as he could. He was Nightpaw, after all.

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><p>A gathering. Has it really been that long since he's died? Courageflame was trapped, in this little bubble that was his mind. In here, he was perfectly sane. Perfectly sane.<p>

There was nothing wrong with him. Nothing at _all._

Courageflame pushed past the cats readying to leave. Where were they going again? He didn't care. He didn't want to know. Nothing mattered. He was going to find Shadestorm; his little brother had been hiding for so long. Were they playing hide-and-seek again? Were they kits?

No, he remembered having an apprentice ceremony, at least. He was Lightfoot's apprentice, and Shadepaw was Treewhisker's apprentice. Yes, Couragepaw was envious of Shadepaw for that, because Treewhisker was a good mentor. Lightfoot was a flighty airhead of a she-cat, and she was only good for hunting. Couragepaw didn't want to hunt, he wanted to fight and rule the clan one day.

Perhaps this was a training drill. Yes, they were all hiding, and Couragepaw had to find them. They had probably disguised their scent, too.

He padded deeper into IceClan territory, keeping his eyes peeled for his brother and their mentors. They were new apprentices, and Shadepaw's assessment would be next.

Hey, what was that?

He must have crossed into another clan's territory, he didn't recognize the scent of these cats. Lightfoot hadn't shown him the borders yet, he didn't know anything.

Couragepaw padded closer to the voices, hearing something that sent a chill down his spine.

"We'll attack IceClan at dawn."

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><p>It was torture, watching them interact. Talonstrike would whisper something in her ear, and Blizzardpaw would giggle. It would repeat, on and on. The walk to the gathering was more boring than usual. For some reason, Nightpaw was always chosen for social events. Was it to make him less-<p>

_**Scary? Probably.**_

And to make this even more irritating, Daypaw would pick apart what he was thinking, what was happening, conversations...

_**An' it's fun!**_

And he wouldn't give Nightpaw a minute's rest. The small black tom was currently padding behind Sootsplash, one of the only cats Nightpaw could bear. He almost admired the silent tom, for he was a good warrior, quiet, and had still managed to attract a mate.

_**Th' reason Goldendawn likes 'im is because he's handsome. Kinda like our dear Icestar, only less charming. The strong, silent type.**_

"We're here!" Icestar chirped from the front. Fawnpaw gave an exited squeal and peered into the hollow. Nightpaw rolled his eyes at her kit-like antics, even though she'd just been made an apprentice about a quarter-moon ago.

The other IceClan cats moved through the hollow, mingling with the cats. The stereotypical IceClan cat was social, charming, attractive, and rather tiny.

Nightpaw possessed one of these traits – well, maybe two, he didn't know if she-cats found him attractive.

_**Maybe if ya were a bit more outgoin', but with tha attitude they don' like ya.**_

According to Daypaw, two of those traits. Icestar, however, possessed all of the traits of the stereotypical IceClan cat. He was the tiniest warrior IceClan had ever seen; the tom looked about eight moons old. He was also an attractive tom, Nightpaw would give him that. She-cats practically flocked around him, and he had a charm to match his looks. The leader also moved through crowds with ease, chatting with every cat he passed, and seeming to know the names of every one of them. He saw quite a few young apprentices, probably at their first gathering, ask him if he'd like to sit with them, and then looking shocked when he told them he was the leader of IceClan.

Yeah, it didn't get more average than Icestar.

_**But secretly, tha's what ya wanna be like, innit it, Nighty?**_

_Shut up. Of course not. He's an idiot. A complete idiot. IDIOT._

_**Ya just keep telling yerself that, Nighty.**_

"Hey, do you know that cat? The white one, with blue eyes? He's in IceClan, right?"

Nightpaw shook himself out of his argument and faced the cat that was speaking. She was small, with deep blue eyes and white-and-light gray striped fur.

"Do you mean Icestar?"

She stared at him. "Icestar? He doesn't look older than _you_, and you're most definitely an apprentice," the she-cat scoffed, rolling her eyes.

_Definitely not someone I'd like to spend my life with. _

_**Who're you ta talk?**_

_Shut up._

"So, you're telling me that he's your leader? Flamepaw told me that the IceClan leader was this old cat named Lightstar," the she-cat persisted. Nightpaw rolled his eyes and ignored her, sitting down and facing the front. The gathering probably wouldn't start for a while, but he didn't like conversing. At all.

"What, do you think you're above me?" the she-cat growled. "Do you think that, just because you're in IceClan, you're above me?"

_**Redundant much?**_

"Shut up, I don't care what clan you're in. I don't care who you are, I don't care about your personal life, I just don't like social gatherings, cats, or, really, anything," Nightpaw meowed, standing up and glaring at her. She seemed taken aback.

"W-what -"

"Cats of all clans, the gathering is about to start!"

Nightpaw sat back down, and the she-cat sat beside him, their fur brushing close. It was slightly awkward, Nightpaw shifted slightly, getting some distance between them.

_**Ya sure you wanna do this, Nighty? This mi' be the only chance ya git with a she-cat.**_

_First of all, she's of another clan. Secondly, I don't like her. _

Maplestar, the oldest leader of the bunch and leader of NightClan, stepped forward. "NightClan is doing well. One of our queens has had three kits. That is all."

Shimmerstar – who was a tom, despite what his name implied – spoke next. "MoonClan is doing great! We've got a new apprentice, Turtlepaw," he dipped his head toward a she-cat near the edge, _near Blizzardpaw, _and continued. "We also have a new warrior under the name of Riverwind."

Icestar stepped forward next, completely ignoring Sunstar. "IceClan has - "

"Iceheart, where is Lightstar?" Sunstar meowed, interrupting the young tom.

"He died. Not important."

Nightpaw heard the she-cat beside him scoff. "Who doesn't care if their leader dies?" she muttered.

"Then, Icestar, sorry. But tradition says leaders with the least experience speak last," Sunstar meowed.

"Honestly, I don't care," Icestar meowed, rolling his eyes. He stretched lazily and continued. "Anyway, yes, Lightstar is dead!"

There were gasps all around the hollow. Most IceClan cats looked bored with their leader's dramatic nature, but cats from other clans had, StarClan forbid, _normal _leaders.

Sunstar sighed. "Icestar, I don't think you're listening to me..."

Nightpaw was bored already. Wait, what was that? There was this cat – floating, and almost transparent – beside Icestar. "My apprentice, do you remember the life I gave you?" the black-and-white tom muttered.

Why couldn't anyone else see the cat? He was so obviously there it was ridiculous, and his voice was practically echoing around the hollow.

Icestar closed his eyes for a moment; Nightpaw realized he could see the cat as well. The tom disappeared.

After opening his eyes, the young leader dipped his head to Sunstar. "I apologize for my tactlessness. Would you let me continue?"

Sunstar's whisker's twitched in amusement. "Go on."

"Also, we've got two new apprentices, Kestrelpaw and Fawnpaw. That's it," Icestar meowed, rushing through the rest. Sunstar grinned and stepped forward as Icestar backed up.

"Well, FoxClan is doing quite well. We've got one new apprentice, my own daughter, Iciclepaw." The black tom sitting in front of Nightpaw and the she-cat turned around to look at her.

"And, that's pretty much it. Gathering dismissed!"

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><p><strong>Review, please! :D<strong>


	3. Chapter Two: Nightpaw

**And...here we are again, with chapter two. :3 This was going to be a Iciclepaw chapter, but...I'm in a Nightpaw mood. All annoyed and emotionless. So, there is going to be no organization for who is written. Whoever's story has to be told, will.**

**TabbyCat47: **Thanks. :3

**AsTheDarknessFalls: **You'll see. :3 In...about...two chapters or something.

**Story Recommendation:**

_Taking Chances by TabbyCat47_

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><p>It was chaos. Bodies were flung from one side of the camp to another, and all Nightpaw could manage to do was stand there, mouth agape. He couldn't move. He was helpless. And if there was one thing – and StarClan knows how many things there are – Nightpaw hated, it was being helpless.<p>

_**Then do something about it, mousebrain!**_

Nightpaw narrowed his eyes searching the battlefield for someone he wouldn't completely fail at fighting. Or, he could help Blizzardpaw, maybe she'd see him as her hero and whatnot.

Of course, Talonstrike had beaten him to it.

"Foxdung," Nightpaw muttered, a tinge of a growl in his voice. He spotted another cat, probably about apprentice-age, watching the battle, just as he was. "I'll go for him."

_**Talkin' to yerself again, Nighty?**_

_Shut up._

Nightpaw slipped through the mass of cats, ducking as a large, orange-and-white cat swiped his claws at the young tom's head. Finally making it over to the other edge of camp, he realized the cat had disappeared. He growled, irritated.

_**Don' lose your temper!**_

Okay then. He'd just stay on the edge, waiting for someone – preferably someone small, and inexperienced – to attack him. That would work.

Unless it all backfired on him and he was cornered by a broad-shouldered, thick-furred, jet black tom. This was just wonderful.

_**Spend too much time thinkin' an' you'll never get anything done.**_

_You're distracting me._

_**Ya do that well nuff on yer own.**_

"Well, well, well...who do we have here?" the tom asked, face contorting into a quite scary expression. Nightpaw backed up a few paces.

_**Scared?**_

"Didn't I ask you a question?" The tom's claw came forward quickly, slicing open Nightpaw's cheek. Blood dripped onto the ground. "You'll tell me your name and rank, right now."

"Nightpaw. Apprentice of IceClan," Nightpaw complied grudgingly. He stared down at the ground, heart pounding. There really was no way to get out of this, unless, by some miracle, another cat came to rescue him.

"Apprentice? What's an apprentice?" The tom took a step forward. "I was talking your number rank. What's your number rank?"

"We don't have those," Nightpaw said, rolling his eyes. StarClan, this cat was stupid.

_**Even in times of crises you 'ave time to be crit-i-cal?**_

"I'm not satisfied with your answers, kit."

"And I don't care."

"Do you have a death wish?"

_**Ya know, I've been wondering that meself.**_

Nightpaw stayed silent. Who knew what kind of trouble he'd get into if he opened his mouth again? That was-

_**Another way yer like our dear Iceystar?**_

_I was actually thinking another way life sucked, but that works, too._

_**Ya wanna get outta this? Lemme take control.**_

"You can do that?"

"What?"

Great StarClan, he'd just talked to Daypaw out loud. His opponent was staring at him, yellow eyes confused.

Nightpaw grew silent once more. It didn't matter to him if the cat was confused.

"Do I have to repeat myself? I am Aragog, rank eighteen," the tom took another step towards him. "And you're Nightpaw, apprentice."

"I do believe we've established that, yes."

"I don't like your attitude."

"And I don't like your face!"

_**Ya see? I can take control.**_

Nightpaw was not happy with this recent development. The tom took yet another step closer, fur bristling. "What did you say, kit?"

"I said that you're a very lovely cat goodbye," Nightpaw turned around, faced with a barricade of thistles and brambles. He scrambled up the wall, ignoring the pain. The cat behind him growled, attempting to follow but drawing back his paw as it was pierced by a thorn.

_Safe..._

_**For now.**_

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><p>What was happening? Why was IceClan being threatened?<p>

Couragekit pressed himself against the ground, watching cats barrel into each other, the stench of death filling the air.

"Courageflame, why aren't you helping?"

Courageflame? He was a warrior all ready? Then...he should protect his clan.

But was this his clan? Was it IceClan? Or should he be helping the attackers; was he on their side? Who should he attack? Did it matter?

Did anything matter?

Was it just a dream?

Was that it, was it just a dream?

It was a bad dream, if it was a dream.

Yes, that must be it.

A dream.

Just a dream.

When he woke up, he'd be with Shadepaw again.

Was Midnight real?

Yes, yes she was.

He'd found her. And then she'd joined the clan.

And then she'd been Midnightpaw.

No, no she wasn't ever Midnightpaw.

Was she just Midnightlight?

This didn't make sense.

No sense at all.

But, dreams didn't have to make sense.

They just had to be.

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><p>Nightpaw scrambled away from the fight with full intention to never go back. But, even as...Nightpaw-ish as Nightpaw was, he had a bit of loyalty in him.<p>

"I'll go get help. What clan?" Nightpaw muttered to himself, pacing, stopping every-so-often to lick dirt and pebbles out of the scratches in his pads. "FoxClan'll be no help, so, NightClan or MoonClan?"

_**I say NightClan. They've got good fightin' force, they do.**_

_Whatever._

Nightpaw sped toward the NightClan border, eyes narrowed in concentration. He was soon over the border, and he slowed to a fast trot. "Is anyone there?"

_**Wha' a stupid thing ta say when trespassin'.**_

_Shut up._

"What do you want?"

The snarl came from precisely above him, so Nightpaw backed up quickly, staring into the branches of the large oak. There was definitely someone there.

"IceClan's being attacked. We need help."

"An IceClan cat asking for help? Thought I'd never see the day!"

"Well, I am," Nightpaw said bluntly. "We're being attacked by a bunch of rogues. The same ones that attacked us before."

"Well, then, are you going to beg?"

"What?"

"Do it."

Nightpaw sighed. "I'm not going to deal with this," he muttered, moving to leave.

"Oh, you're not going anywhere."

Nightpaw backed up, trying to escape before something bad...something really, really horrific, happened.

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><p><strong>God, that was short. .<strong>

**And I don't like the ending...**

**But, the next chapter will be better.**


	4. Chapter Three: Featherpaw

**Ah, here we go. Chapter three of SOTN! :DD I now have an outline. And the final result is thirteen POV's. :33 This is a new POV, Featherpaw of NightClan.**

**Review replies!**

**AstheDarknessFalls: **I normally would say 'Me too!', but now I have an outline. :3 And I'm pretty excited, it's going to be great!

**Sunmist: **Yeah, I can't stand it when anyone (especially myself) has bad grammar and all that. :3

**Lunara the ara: **I would change her name, but...I already have stuff planned for her. X3

**Frostbreeze of RiverClan: **Don't worry, Blizzardpaw.

**Story recommendation:**

_Too Many Left Behind by Sunmist_

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><p>"Featherpaw! Get your tail out here!" Featherpaw blinked his eyes open and, yawning, scrambled down out of the apprentice's den. He'd had the dawn patrol, so Snowpelt had given him the okay to rest for a while.<p>

"What, Elmtail?" he asked, question punctuated with a yawn. He'd never really liked the pale gray warrior. The cat was rude, mean, irritating, pessimistic, a bully, barely out the apprentice's den and already bossing everyone around.

"Maplestar said that, 'cause I found him, I get to choose the little babysitter," Elmtail meowed triumphantly, tail almost smacking the prisoner – a rather small IceClan apprentice – in the face. "I choose you."

"Why does this not surprise me," Featherpaw muttered, rolling his eyes. He was one of the main targets of Elmtail's teasing. The older cat's reasoning was 'the kit's she-cat name', 'he's puny!', 'he couldn't beat a mouse in a fight.' While it was true that Featherpaw was generally a name chosen for she-cats, he was on the smaller side – nothing compared to IceClan cats, though, and he wasn't the best fighter, it didn't give Elmtail the right to be so idiotic. But enough of his rambling. He did that way too often. So much, that, in fact-He was doing it again.

"It's your job to make a den for the kit, and hunt for him – but not too much, we don't want him getting fat and useless, and keep him occupied. Won't that be fun?" Elmtail said, sneering. Featherpaw sighed.

"You can stay in the apprentice's den. I'll block off a part," he said, flicking his tail for the cat to follow. The cat padded silently after him. Featherpaw stole a look behind him, and the cat seemed to be having an argument with himself. Great StarClan, this cat was weird.

Once they reached the Apprentices' Tree, Featherpaw bounded up with ease. The black tom followed him, looking around with interest. "You've got a weird camp," he stated.

Featherpaw looked at him quickly, nodded, and pulled some moss of the tree. It was an ancient tree, having been used by apprentices of NightClan for sleeping hundreds of seasons. There was a large hollow in the center that could be used for new apprentices, or prisoners. It was currently uninhabited. That's where this cat was going to stay. "You'll stay in there," he told the cat. "What's your name, anyway?"

"Ironically enough, Nightpaw," the IceClan tom replied, falling into a stereotypical IceClan drawl. He poked his head into the hollow and wrinkled his nose in disgust. "It's disgusting in there."

"Deal with it," Featherpaw muttered, shoving the moss past Nightpaw and into the hollow. "I'll get some thorns to bar the entrance later. Maybe Olivepaw can guard you while I'm busy..." he muttered the last part to himself. "Hey, Olivepaw!"

The mottled, dark gray she-cat looked up from her mouse. "Yeah, Featherpaw?" she yowled back.

"Could you guard him while I go get some thorns?"

She nodded, gulping down the rest of her mouse and joining them in the tree. "Should he be in it?"

Featherpaw nodded, glaring at the cat. Nightpaw complied, moving into the nest and sitting down, his piercing yellow gaze fixing Olivepaw with a stare.

She shifted uncomfortably. "He's weird. Do I have to guard him?"

Featherpaw nodded. "Sorry, but it'll only be for a few minutes. Then you can go and do whatever you were doing beforehand, or train, or hunt, or-"

"Featherpaw. Got it," Olivepaw meowed, cutting him off. Featherpaw felt heat rise to his face and nodded, leaping to the forest floor. He padded out of the camp, heading for the IceClan border. The IceClan/NightClan border was notorious for the thick thorns, with only one, small path. He could see clumps of jet black fur lodged on the thorns on either sides of the path, probably from Nightpaw's flight. Featherpaw jerked some of the thorns free, hissing as they scratched his pads.

He carried them gingerly back to camp, tripping and feeling their stabbing pain more than a few times. It was irritating, to say the least. He'd have to ask Tinylight to give him something for the multiple scratches that had begun to bleed profusely, especially for the deep one right above his paw. How he had managed to get all of those, he had no idea. Along with his other issues, Featherpaw was the clumsiest cat he'd ever had the pleasure to know. That wasn't good, especially considering his clan specialized in tree-fighting.

He entered the camp, wondering how he was going to manage to get the barrier of thorns up into the tree. He saw Olivepaw's gray head poke down from the branches. "Finally! He's driving me crazy, always looking like he's arguing with himself, and once he even started _talking_!"

Featherpaw blinked, and gripped a part of the barrier that didn't have a thorn on it in his mouth. He began to pick his way up the tree, dropping the thorns into the hollow as soon as he reached Olivepaw and Nightpaw. The apprentice moved away from the thorns, fur scraping the back of the hollow as Featherpaw secured the thorns to bar the entrance. Nightpaw's yellow eyes stared through the thorns, making Featherpaw feel small.

"Featherpaw! Are you done yet?" his mentor, Snowpelt, called up toward them. "You need to go hunting. Try to bring back something for the clan as well as the apprentice."

Featherpaw sighed. "See you later, Olivepaw," he said, jumping down from the tree. He dipped his head in respect when he passed Snowpelt, and padded into the forest.

As soon as he exited camp and was out of the prying eyes of his clanmates, Featherpaw scrambled up a large oak. NightClan was known for their tendency to stay in the trees, but the skinny white apprentice had always been more at home in the trees than his clanmates. This gained him the nickname 'Birdbrain' and one of the top positions in the Elite group of tree-fighters.

He was also quite good at hunting birds.

And now he was going to provide food for an IceClan cat.

* * *

><p>"Courageflame, where's your son? I haven't seen him since the battle."<p>

Son? He had a son? Who was his mate? Was it Midnightlight? Sunpaw? Bramblepaw? The last two would be odd, but who knew?

Wait...didn't he have a daughter, too? Where was she?

"Where...is my daughter?"

The cat standing across from him blinked. Courageflame didn't know who this cat was. He looked a lot like Icepaw, Lightstar's daughter. "Courageflame, your daughter's been dead for months."

"Icepaw, what are you talking about?"

The cat's ears fell flat on his head and backed away slowly, muttering something about 'insanity in the ranks.'

Courageflame didn't care.

He was going to go hunting, or maybe find that she-cat that he'd seen hanging around lately. She'd told him her name was Midnightlight. He'd thought it was funny because it sounded like a clan name.

Shadestorm had told him to stop seeing her, but he never heeded his brother's advice.

* * *

><p>Featherpaw watched Nightpaw scarf down the thrush like he hadn't eaten in moons. Of course, there was an overpopulation epidemic in IceClan, Maybe there wasn't enough food. Or maybe the cat starved himself. Featherpaw didn't know.<p>

"Are you okay?" Featherpaw asked. Nightpaw glanced through the thorns quickly to meet his eyes, and dropped them again.

"Fine."

Featherpaw sighed. Well, the cat was going to be here for a while, and he could get information out of him sometime.

* * *

><p><strong>Kind of short, sorry. :P<strong>

**But, review! Tell me what you think! Who's POV do you like best? Icestar's? Nightpaw's? Featherpaw's? The snippets of the deteriorating mind of Courageflame?**

**Also, which story(ies) do you think deserve to be a recommendation? I'll give them a look.  
><strong>


	5. Chapter Four: Nightpaw

**And it's time for another chapter!**

**TabbyCat47: **It's the pain of losing his brother. He _also_ lost his mate and daughter, and his son's not that good at comforting. x3

**AsTheDarknessFalls: **Daypaw's pretty awesome, gotta admit. Nightpaw's POV is always fun to write because of him.

**Frostbreeze of Riverclan: **Um, thanks. :)

**Story Recommendation:**

_Purest of All by Wilder123_

* * *

><p>StarClan, he was so mousebrained. He hadn't been thinking clearly after that incredibly creepy rogue had cornered him. And he did the only natural thing, he ran into enemy territory and was now a prisoner.<p>

He would just pull off the thorns and escape, but...they'd probably catch up quickly, using the trees and ambushing him again. It would be also stupid to let them know that IceClan cats were used to thorns.

_**Eh, Nighty, ya ain't that smart to begin with. Nobody'd notice if you did somethin' stupid now and then.**_

_Oh, shut up. I don't need you right now._

_**So ya admit that you need me sometimes! Nighty, I'm touched!**_

Nightpaw sighed, causing a worried glance from the she-cat that was guarding him. The small white tom, the one that had put the thorns up, had asked her to help him out on guarding Nightpaw, and she did. Nightpaw could tell she was scared of him. Good. Let her be scared.

"What's up with IceClan, anyway?"

Nightpaw jumped. Someone was talking to him. It was the white tom, the one with a she-cat name...Lilypaw? No, too girly. Flowerpaw? No...Featherpaw? Yeah, maybe. "What do you mean? There's a lot of things wrong with my clan," Nightpaw said, keeping his voice flat and emotionless.

"I mean...why were you trespassing in our territory?" Featherpaw asked.

"We were being attacked. He-Er, I figured to ask NightClan for help," Nightpaw meowed.

_**Idiot.**_

_I know. You don't need to rub it in._

Daypaw snorted. Nightpaw shook his head, irritated. The other apprentice took a step back. "Um, okay. I'm going to leave you alone now."

"That would probably be intelligent."

Featherpaw disappeared from view, and Nightpaw was left staring through the thorns, out into the sky...or at least what he could see of the sky through the trees.

"Maplestar!"

Nightpaw blinked. That sounded suspiciously like Icestar. Why was he here? Was Nightpaw going crazy, like Courageflame? StarClan, that would be horrible.

_**Don' worry, ain't crazy yet.**_

_That's reassuring._

_**I do what I can.**_

"What do you want, Icestar?" the tired voice of Maplestar could be heard, loud and clear. So Icestar was here.

"I want the apprentice back. You know, small, black, emotionless?"

The command to bring him down to the ground was quieter; Nightpaw couldn't hear it, but it was obvious that the order had been given when two somber-looking NightClan warriors appeared before his hollow and pulled off the thorns, grimacing. Nightpaw smirked.

_**Don't get too cocky, there, Nighty.**_

Nightpaw wriggled through the hole and scrambled down the tree, ignoring the NightClan cat's protests.

The rescue party was larger than he had expected. Icestar headed it, of course. To his right was Sootsplash, and next to him was Flakestorm. Strikeheart and Courageflame – Why, oh why did Icestar insist on bringing him everywhere? - were at the back of the group, right behind Blizzardpaw.

Blizzardpaw was there. StarClan, _Blizzardpaw was there. _

"You all right, Nightpaw?" Icestar asked, a bright smile on his face. The tom was extraordinarily happy for someone on a rescue mission. Nightpaw nodded, choosing to stay mute.

_**Ya know, that's probably a good choice.**_

_Exactly._

* * *

><p>His head hurt. It hurt, it hurt too much to bear, almost. Maybe it was the odd stench the other cats were giving off...not his clanmates, but the ones...the ones that they were in the territory of. They smelled weird.<p>

It was almost like the time Shadekit had fallen into a pile of fox dung while they were (illegally) exploring the forest. But it must not be bad for him to explore anymore, because they were waaaaaaaay out of the camp now. And there were other cats with him! Like Strikekit! And Sootkit! And some other cats he didn't know.

It seemed like he didn't know anything. He didn't know where they were, he didn't know who most of these cats were, and he had no idea when Icepaw had gotten so powerful.

The last Courageflame could remember was that Icepaw was Swiftclaw's apprentice. Swiftclaw was the deputy. Lightstar...Lightstar showed favoritism!

Nobody really liked Lightstar.

The tom that was being guarded by the NightClan cats looked suspiciously like Midnightlight. His little Midnight. He loved her, he really did. When was she going to take his hint and join IceClan? Then they could have a family, and they could have a son that he could name Nightkit, after her, because he loved her. He loved her much more than Shadestorm loved Jasmineleaf. He figured that, because he wasn't all..._showy _with his love, he loved her a lot. Because he didn't have to show other cats he loved her.

They automatically knew.

"Courageflame! Aren't you happy to see your son?" Icepaw was talking to him again.

"My...son?" He didn't have a son...did he? Had his dream with Midnightlight come true, or did he give up on her? Where was she, anyway? Was she in the forest? Was she in camp? Was she...dead?

"Yeah. Nightpaw! Get over here!"

The small black tom that looked so much like Midnightlight padded over to the IceClan group. "What?" the cat asked in a cold, emotionless voice.

"He...is not my son."

He had to ignore the shocked stares of his clanmates. The cat wasn't his son. His son would be brave, and smart, and nice! Not...not cold and emotionless and mean. No, this mysterious 'Nightpaw' was most definitely not his son.

* * *

><p>Nightpaw knew that his father wasn't that fond of him, but to go so far as to disown him was...well, unimaginable.<p>

_**Face it, Nighty. Nobody'll ever want ya. Not yer dad, not yer precious lil' Blizzy. **_

_Blizzy? _

_**Blizzardpaw. StarClan, Nighty, ya have no imagination.**_

"Nightpaw...I...I'm sorry," Blizzardpaw meowed.

"Why are you apologizing? You didn't do anything wrong," Nightpaw snapped, whipping around to face her. She looked mildly terrified.

The group headed back. Maplestar had given him up without too much fuss; after all, he was more trouble than he was worth, or at least, that was her way of putting it.

_**An' I thought you had a weak leader. **_Daypaw snorted.

_What do you mean by that? _

_**Tha' Maplestar's a weak fool that'll do anything ta keep her precious lil' clan intact.**_

…_.Isn't that what a leader's supposed to do?_

_**Nah, they're supposed to lead, kill other cats, an' conquer!**_

_You have a messed up mind._

_**I try.**_

"Hey, Nightpaw?"

Blizzardpaw was actually going to give him another chance. Nightpaw was luckier than he gave himself credit for, apparently.

"Um, yeah?" Nightpaw asked, aware of the heat flushing his face.

"What was it like, you know, in NightClan?" she seemed genuinely curious as she asked the question, fixing him with her beautiful blue gaze.

"It was...okay, I guess. They fed me, and my prison wasn't that complicated."

"You could've gotten out at any time, right?" Blizzardpaw meowed. Nightpaw looked at her.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, all the toms always brag. Like Talonstrike. If he would've been in your place, he would have been bragging about how he didn't want to make NightClan look bad, how he let them capture him," Blizzardpaw meowed.

"Well...the prison was pretty simple, but there's no way I could have escaped," Nightpaw meowed simply.

_**Good call.**_

[linelineline]

**I swear, these keep getting shorter and shorter. :P**


	6. Chapter Five: Nightpaw

**Ah, back to the twisted minds of Nightpaw and Courageflame. Like father, like son. **

**Frostbreeze of RiverClan: **Haha, yeah, I needed a mate for Jasmineleaf. If we get some flashbacks in here – which are quite possible, considering Courageflame – you'll see more of her. Courageflame's fun to write. Yay, insanity!

**AsTheDarknessFalls: **That they are. :)

**Sunmist: **Thanks! It's so fun to write, so I'm glad others enjoy it as much as I do.

**Lunara_the_ara: **Ohhh yes. x3

**dragonFELL: **DARN YOU ICESTAR! WHY MUST YOU BE SO PERFECT? DX I, actually, did not mean for him to be that way. Maybe seeing things in his POV makes him seem cooler than he actually is. Have you ever seen Ouran High School Host Club? If so, I picture Icestar to be kind of like Tamaki (and I just thought of that now). Also, yeah...description isn't my...strongest suit, so to speak. 3x. Daypaw is, in fact, male. I probably should've made him female, then he'd be more different than Nightpaw. Buuuuuuuuuuuuut...Daypaw makes more appearances – in the flesh, or maybe not? Hehehehehhh – later in the story. But he doesn't go by Daypaw actually; that's just what Nightpaw calls him. I'm going to stop now, before I give away YET ANOTHER of the side plots. Or is it a side plot?

**DaughterofZeusRules: **Ah, Courageflame and Daypaw. :) Love them also.

**Story Recommendation:**

_Shadow of the Sun by dragonFELL_

* * *

><p>Nightpaw shifted from paw to paw, waiting for Windyheart to come out of the warrior's den. Stupid mentor, stupid <em>old, <em>useless mentor. "Have you seen Icestar?"

Nightpaw blinked, trying to make sure it was actually him the extraordinarily pretty, light-colored she-cat – also known as Flakestorm – was talking to him. Of course, it was about _Icestar, _so that made it much less unbelievable. "Er, no," Nightpaw muttered. Flakestorm sighed.

"Whatever. See you later, Shadowpaw!"

_**She doesn't even know your NAME, Nighty.**_

_So? She's annoying._

_**An' a cutie. **_

_Shut up._

"Nightpaw! I've been waiting for you!" Windyheart fussed, padding over to him. Nightpaw rolled her eyes. He'd been standing in front of the warrior's den for StarClan-knows-how-long, and she had the audacity to yell at him for 'being late.' Was everything his fault?

_**Yep.**_

The small black tom sighed, and his mentor gave him a confused look. "What? Are you sick?"

"No. Let's just get this over with," Nightpaw muttered.

"What? I didn't hear you, sorry," Windyheart meowed, blinking at him through large blue eyes. It was then that Nightpaw remember that she was _Blizzardpaw's _mother, and if he ever wanted Blizzardpaw to even _think _about liking him, he should probably act decent towards her mother.

"Nothing," Nightpaw meowed, raising his voice a bit. She smiled at him, reminding him how stupid she was sometimes. Most of the time. All of the time.

_**Once again, yer a critical lil' mousebrain.**_

Windyheart had begun to walk towards the exit of the camp. Nightpaw had to rush to follow her, only stopping once when a leaf blew into his face. For an old cat, she moved fast.

Another thing that Blizzardpaw and Windyheart seemed to have in common was the need to fill the silence with inane chatter. Picking his way over fallen branches and around patches of thorns, Nightpaw had nothing better to do than get lost in his thoughts. It's not like they were going to do anything important, after all.

"Nightpaw! Sweetie, are you listening to me?"

Nightpaw blinked, looking up at the motherly – albeit annoying – she-cat. "Yeah?" he guessed, hoping that she wouldn't ask him to elaborate.

"What did I just say?" she was staring down at him now, reminding him yet again how stereotypical his size was. At least he didn't stick out in a crowd of IceClan cats.

_**Think again, Nighty.**_

_Shut up. I don't need your commentary._

_**Sure ya don't.**_

"Something about...hunting?"

Windyheart shook her head slowly. "I swear, you're worse than Swifttalon sometimes." She let out a high, tittering laugh. Nightpaw rolled his eyes. "No, we're going to be working on fighting today."

Nightpaw snorted, digging his claws into the soft, greenleaf ground as he stretched. Like she'd have anything to teach him. Windyheart was _never _involved in fights, always on the sidelines – either helping Juniperberry or 'sick' again.

Of course she was old. Maybe, if he was lucky, he'd get a different mentor.

* * *

><p>"Courageflame, I've disposed of the leader. Do you know what to do now?"<p>

Courageflame did not know what to do. Honestly, he just wanted to curl up in the warrior's den between Shadestorm and Midnightlight.

Unless Shadestorm wasn't there, and instead was out in the forest 'to get some peace and quiet' with Jasmineleaf.

Yeah, sure. Peace and quiet.

So, Courageflame shook his head no. He didn't even know who this cat was. A tom, that was all he was sure of. Couragepaw didn't know anyone this...calculating, or cruel.

"You step in as leader of IceClan. I have collected the forces necessary to keep the clan in line. Think about it, Courageflame. All you've ever wanted."

The voice faded away, leaving just a whisper behind. Couragepaw stood up, shaking, grass from his pelt. He needed to get back to camp quickly.

* * *

><p><em>StarClan, <em>she was fast. Nightpaw stood up, wincing as his (possibly) sprained paw brushed the ground. Who knew his mentor was that adept at fighting? "What's wrong, Nightpaw?" she meowed, a grin adorning her dark features. "I thought you were better at fighting than this?"

_**Looks deceive you, Nighty. For example, when I firs' saw you, I though' you were an antisocial idiot. Oh, wait...**_

_Shut up._

Nightpaw gritted his teeth and tried to keep his eyes on her. She was larger than most IceClan cats, and definitely preferred the method of darting in, slashing or pushing, and rushing out again. He was substantially slower than her.

He'd taken too much time to think, and was on his side again. He stood up shakily, panting. Foxdung, she was annoying. "I think we're done here," Windyheart said, padding to stand beside him.

"What?" Nightpaw asked, confused. She chuckled.

"I think we've learned quite an important lesson on humility. Come on, let's get back to camp. I'm sure you're hungry."

When they got back to camp, it was far from peaceful. Nightpaw stood in the entrance of camp, watching as cats rushed from side to side, all yowling something about Icestar being missing. He hadn't shown up? Normally by this time of day, he'd be sharing fresh-kill with at least three she-cats. But that was an exaggeration. Kind of.

"Be silent."

Nightpaw followed the clan's gaze up to the top of the leader's den, where Icestar generally called meetings.

Daypaw started laughing hysterically at who was standing up there.

Of course it had to be his father.

Of course it had to be his father, backed by StarClan-knows-how-many rogues.

And of course one of those rogues was Aragog. This was just _fantastic. _

"Shadowpaw. You've arrived," his father meowed, managing to look a bit regal.

What, now he'd forgotten his name, too?

"This is the welcoming of a new era of IceClan. I.." Courageflame trailed off, squinting his eyes as if he wasn't sure what he was supposed to be doing. A dark brown tabby whispered something in his ear. " I am proud to present our new warriors. They are your family now. Together, we..." He looked to the tabby for support.

"We will rule the forest!" the tabby yowled. The other rogues took up the cheering, and Nightpaw even saw a few IceClan cats yowling along. "We will rule the forest! We will rule the forest!"

Yeah, sure. They'd rule the forest.

And probably change his name to Shadowpaw.


	7. Chapter Six: Iciclepaw

**Yay for updating on time! :DDD**

**Rather low review count, but, eh, at least I got two! :DD**

**dragonFELL: **I needed his POV to throw in something, but I _did _change his name a few times. It went from Courageflame-to-Couragepaw-to-Courageflame-to-Courageflame-to-Couragepaw et cetera. Aragog was actually the cat that Nightpaw fought back in...chapter three? Well, when the battle was. XD

**Frostbreeze of RiverClan: **Heheheh. X3 Yeah, Shadestorm was a weirdo. But really cool. Wish he hadn't died. But if he wouldn't have died, then the entire plot would be useless, and we wouldn't want that, would we? X3

**Story Recommendation - **

_S H A T T E R E D by Prin Pardus_

_C H I L L E D by Prin Pardus_

* * *

><p>Iciclepaw coughed a loud, rasping cough, shoulders shaking with the force of it. Stupid sickness. She hadn't even been sick yesterday, and now she was stuck with this. StarClan. She was going to have her first assessment today, too.<p>

"Iciclepaw, are you – Whoa, you don't look so good," Robinflight gasped as he entered the den, backing out as soon as he'd entered. "Featherfall! Get over here!"

Iciclepaw watched through blurry eyes as their light brown medicine cat, followed by her apprentice, Berrypaw. "Oh, this is not good," Featherfall muttered. "Berrypaw, help me get her to the medicine cat den."

The blue-eyed tom nodded, propping her up with his shoulder. Iciclepaw tried her best to stay upright, keeping her paws rooted to the ground. Robinflight slipped to her other side and took most of her weight.

Another coughing fit wracked her body, and would have knocked her to the ground, had it not been for the two toms.

"This is not good at _all_," Featherfall muttered. "Better tell Sunstar his daughter's not going to make it. Robinflight, Berrypaw, make her comfortable for the last moments of her life. Generally she'd have a few days, but considering how fast she's caught it..."

"What? But...but she's...StarClan, why can't this ever happen to one of the other clans?" Robinflight complained, lowering her to the ground slowly.

What was that in front of her? It was a cat, a cat with no fur and bright yellow eyes. He grinned at her and padded closer.

She didn't want him to come closer. There was...something about him that scared her. Maybe it was the fact that his claws were already unsheathed, or maybe because of the insane expression on his face. Iciclepaw's fur bristled as he kept walking near her, going straight through Flamepaw's nest to do so. _Why can't they see him? Why aren't they doing anything? _she wanted to scream, but feared it would affect the cough.

"Nighty-night," he meowed, leering at her and swiping his claws over her throat. And the world went black.

* * *

><p>He just wanted to go to sleep. But no, he needed to appoint a <em>deputy<em>. Why did he need to appoint a deputy, again? He wasn't leader, was he? Now, that would be weird. Lightstar was leader. Swiftclaw was deputy. He was a new warrior, with Shadestorm.

Oh, he needed to see if that rogue was still hanging around. She'd been hunting within clan borders for ages, and he was going to do something about it. Unless she was cute.

Yeah, that's what he'd do today.

Courageflame padded out of the den, wrinkling his nose at the odd stench the cats were giving off. A rather creepy-looking, scarred black tom with bright yellow eyes padded over to him. "Heya Couragestar!" the cat chirped. "Ya don't know me yet, but my name's Pineapple."

Courageflame – no, star, apparently – snorted with laughter. Pineapple? What kind of name was that? Sure, pine was acceptable. But...apple as the second part? What was Lightstar thinking when he named this cat? Surely he wasn't on catnip...

But, that was just a rumor. Nobody knew for certain if Lightstar abused the use of catnip. Nobody knew if it could be abused. Well, Shadestorm claimed he'd tried once, but who believed Shadepaw? Especially when you were with him at all times? Yeah, Couragepaw didn't believe him. "Hey, where's Shadepaw?" Couragepaw asked the strange cat.

"Shadepaw? They'd warned me you were an odd one, but...'course, I don't know every cat here. Oi, Apollo!"

A dark tabby padded over, blue eyes bright. "Yeah?"

"There a cat named Shadepaw here?"

"Not that I know of, Commander."

"Apollo, here I'm jus' a lowly warrior, like you. Keep it in mind. We're not back in Screaming Shadows yet. Though, we really should send a group o' cats back there, make sure the territory's not taken over or somethin'. Think Aragog can handle things here?"

"Maybe," the cat gave a shrug, then looked at Couragepaw. "Did he make his decision yet?"

"What decision?" Couragepaw asked. The tabby blinked.

"For who your deputy is going to be. Are you crazy or something?"

* * *

><p>"Wake up!" Something prodded Iciclepaw's shoulder, hard. The small white she-cat's eyes opened with difficulty. Standing above her was a she-cat with the brightest orange fur she'd ever seen. "Iciclepaw, it's time for your trial."<p>

"Who are you? How do you know me?" Iciclepaw asked, blinking sleep out of her eyes.

"Ya were killed by Sharpfang, lil' girl," a different voice said. The owner of that voice, a pure white tom with bright yellow eyes, popped into view. "See, the Dark Fores' can do lotsa things. My guess is that Azurefeather poisoned ya, and then Sharpfang went down to finish the job. Good thing they're not in StarClan. We can offer guidance to kitties without showin' our face. They'd abuse it."

"Who _are _you?" Iciclepaw repeated her question. The orange she-cat grinned.

"I'm Scratchclaw, and this is Holloweyes. You're in the camp of StarClan, medicine cat den to be specific. We used to be FoxClan cats too, by the way."

"Lots of us here, there are."

"Holloweyes, shut up. The souls of cats when they die are transported to the medicine cat's den, and when they wake up, two cats from their former clan take them to the leader's conference room for their trial."

"Trial?" Iciclepaw was thoroughly confused. Holloweyes snickered at her confusion.

"Ta see if you're goin' to the Dark Fores' or get to stay here," he explained. "Now, hurry up! Most of 'em are old and don't like to be kept waitin'. 'Specially Foxstar. Not old, but don't like to be kept waiting, her."

"Uh, okay," Iciclepaw meowed, rising to her paws shakily. The ground seemed to spin, and she had to shut her eyes tightly to keep from falling over.

"Happens to all souls," Holloweyes meowed. "Least you got it outa the way."

Scratchclaw began to pad out of the den."I'll show you the way," she promised. Iciclepaw followed her quickly, wanting to get this 'trial' thing over with.

They passed many cats. Some of them, like a suspiciously tiny calico (Iciclepaw decided she was probably IceClan), seemed hostile. Others were more welcoming, like a pale ginger queen. Eventually, though, they made it to the 'leader's conference room.'

A small gray-and-white tom popped his head out the entrance. "You must be Iciclepaw! Enter!"

Iciclepaw swallowed hard and padded through the doorway.

Inside were eight cats. The gray-and-white tom that had told her to enter was sitting closest to the door, and he seemed to just be daydreaming, staring through the lichen. Next to him was an ancient-looking, black tom-cat with blue eyes that nodded politely to her. Next was a dark tabby with yellow eyes, and sitting beside her was a fluffy black tom.

After that was fluffy, fox-like, red she-cat with bright blue eyes and a slim black tom with yellow eyes. Beside those two, two silvery-colored toms argued. "Cats of StarClan! Shut up and let the trial begin!" the fox-like she-cat snapped. "Introductions!"

The tom closest to the entrance began, snapping out of his dream-like state and grinning confidently at her. "I'm Icestar, first ever leader of IceClan and self-proclaimed most attractive cat that ever lived."

Iciclepaw had to admit, he was kind of cute.

"Lightstar."

"Nightstar."

"Wolfstar."

"Foxstar."

"Tigerstar. Hey, you're Sunstar's daughter, aren't you?"

Iciclepaw was unsure if she should answer this question. Foxstar had switched her glare from Icestar to the slim black tom, but Iciclepaw chanced a quick nod.

"Moonstar," the first silver tom meowed moodily, stretching.

"Lichenstar," the second silver tom meowed.

"On to the trial, then," Foxstar meowed. The she-cat seemed to be dictating the meeting, and her sharp blue gaze made Iciclepaw uncomfortable. "It seems that you, Iciclepaw, have been quite a good little kitten. And don't complain, you're only six moons old. Apart from your little...fun experiment...with thorns and the elder's den, your slate is basically clean. Welcome to StarClan."


	8. Chapter Seven: Dreams

**Another Sunday, another update. :) This one's gonna be fun – dreams, anyone?**

**dragonFELL: **Yeah, I probably could've spent a little more time on our dear little Sharpfang. Do you mean Holloweyes talks like Daypaw? I re-looked over that chapter, and I think Scratchclaw spoke...fairly normally. And I enjoy naming cats – eviller cats, mostly – after fruit. I do believe Pineapple has a sister named Kiwi.

**AsTheDarknessFalls: **Haha, poor abused Nightpaw. x3

**Story Recommendation:**

_The Darker Legends by Scarheart of DarkClan_

* * *

><p>Nightpaw was on a small hill surrounded by water, watching Shadestorm herd a group of swimming, Quietpaw look-a-likes around and around.<p>

Wait a minute, what?

"You've got a funny imagination."

The small black tom looked around, seeing a light, golden-brown tabby wade through the water towards him. "Who are you? Why are you in my dream? Wait a minute, where's Daypaw?"

"Daypaw?" the cat seemed thoroughly confused. "Imaginary friend?" he guessed, reaching the hill and pulling himself out of the water, shaking himself dry. Nightpaw winced as a few of the drops landed on him.

"Imaginary tormentor," Nightpaw corrected.

"Ah," the cat nodded. "Well, I'm Stormylight, and I've appeared in your dreams to tell you the path of justice!"

Nightpaw blinked. "The path of what?"

"Justice! Well, not really. I'm going to tell you a prophecy, because apparently StarClan can't give you actual answers and have to use a prophecy every single time, that will help you find Icestar and bring him back!"

"I actually think the clan is functioning better with Courageflame as the leader," Nightpaw pointed out. Stormylight shrugged.

"You've got a point. But Icestar – the dead one – wants his descendant back. And Bramblepaw's been begging us to let her materialize in front of Icestar – the alive one – and lead him back," Stormylight took a deep breath. "Oh, and by the way, your sister says hi."

"Tell her I said hi..." Nightpaw meowed quietly. "Now what's this prophecy? And why me? I'm the antisocial son of the current insane evil overlord."

"StarClan likes to be ironic," Stormylight's tail flicked back and forth. "Anyway, the prophecy – and it might be a little obvious, Lightstar threw it together last minute – is this...

_Striking courage will shatter the ice_

_Shadows of night_

_Will collect the three – _Well, two now, but...

_And bring peace back to the forest."_

"So, it's Courageflame's fault that Icestar's gone, and I'm supposed to collect three-"

"Two."

"Okay, two, and bring peace back to the forest?"

"Yeah, basically. You're smarter than I thought!" Stormylight meowed cheerfully. "But there are going to be a few twists in the plot, because we've got nothing better to do up there than mess with cat's lives. It's great fun!"

"Great," Nightpaw muttered. "That's great."

"I know, right?"

* * *

><p>Where <em>was <em>he? Generally...generally it was less confusing in his dreams, but this was a full-blown nightmare. With blood.

He was frozen. He was frozen as the cat that had killed his brother, the black cat with the scars and the yellow eyes and the weird way of speaking, padded to his family. Shadestorm was alive again. As was Midnightlight, and Quietpaw.

Where was Nightpaw?

Courageflame gazed across the blood-soaked field – did he mention there was blood? - until he spotted his son. His son backed into a corner by another black tom with yellow eyes.

What was up with all the black cats with yellow eyes? Of course, Midnightlight had yellow eyes, but she was cool. And the only she-cat he knew with black fur and yellow eyes.

"Do something, idiot!"

Courageflame blinked and looked down. Standing in front of him was a very irritated calico she-cat. "I-I can't," he managed to say. She sighed irritably.

"If you don't, this will actually happen. Stop S-"

Another black cat – this one with blue eyes, thank goodness – shoved her out of the way. Somehow, he made it look elegant. "Thank you, Courageflame," he purred, white tail-tip flicking back and forth. "Thank you for making our plan such a...success."

The cat that had killed his brother was beside the blue-eyed cat now. Had his family escaped? No, a white cat was trapping them now.

"What? I didn't do anything!" Courageflame yowled. "I didn't..."

* * *

><p>One...two...three...got it! Featherpaw pounced on the rabbit, only to have it turn to dust. Great. He couldn't even do anything in his dreams. But there were noises over there! He followed the noise until he came upon a sight he'd never wanted to see. He backed out of their quickly, leaving the two cats to their...disturbing...things...why did it have to be Maplestar and Elmtail?<p>

"What is going on through your head, kid?"

Featherpaw spun around just in time to see a black-and-white tom pad out of the bushes. The cat grinned at him and stretched. "I-I don't know," Featherpaw meowed, stumbling over his words. "Who are you? Why are you in my dream? Why is my dream so creepy? Generally it's not such a creepy pairing-"

"Whoa, you dream about that stuff often? You're a messed up little guy, aren't you? I'm Hypnos, by the way."

"Hypnos?" Featherpaw asked. What kind of name was that?

"Used to be a loner. Had an affair with a clan she-cat. When she died giving birth to my kits, I felt obliged to join 'em. It took a bit to get used to the tree life, though," Hypnos meowed. "Anyway, I'm here to tell you a prophecy. It's pretty simple. Let's just say that IceClan cats shouldn't make prophecies.

_Striking courage will shatter the ice_

_Shadows of the night_

_Will collect the three_

_And bring peace back to the forest. _See you!"

And with that, the cat disappeared, leaving Featherpaw to the disturbing scene behind him. "What just happened?"

* * *

><p>"Oh m-my StarClan..."<p>

Right in front of her was the best scene Ivypaw had _ever _dreamed. In front of her was a warm, comfortable looking nest with a pile of fresh-kill and the most handsome tom she'd ever seen in her life. He was a black tom, with one white paw and the prettiest blue eyes she'd ever seen.

"You are Ivypaw, correct?" the cat meowed stiffly, letting his eyes trail over her. She felt...odd, like a cat was pricking it's claws down her spine when he looked at her. However attractive he may be, he was still kind of creepy.

"Y-yes, I'm Ivypaw," she meowed. Even in her dreams she stuttered. Not the general, confident MoonClan cat.

"I, am Spinechill."

"Sp-spinechill?" The last part of her question went unsaid, but _What a weird name _hung in the air between them. Or, more like, _Wh-what a weird n-name._

"MoonClan is an odd clan. I have come to give you a prophecy, then you may return to your normal dreams,

_Striking courage will shatter the ice_

_Shadows of the night_

_Will collect the three_

_And bring peace back to the forest."_

"No, wait!" Ivypaw shouted, but he was already gone. "F-foxdung," she muttered. "That w-was the best setup for a dream I've h-had in forever."

* * *

><p><strong>I'm so sorry that these are shorter now. :P At least this was fun to write, and hopefully fun to read? :D<strong>


	9. Chapter Eight: Nightpaw

**Ah, back for another chapter. :D This one should be fun. **

**dragonFELL: **Ahhhh! A typo! :O And it seems that when I TRY to make a parody, they end up like...idiotic...but if I don't, it's way too funny to be serious. XP It's like my writing is trying to work against me. DX I blame my characters. They're too awesome.

**WarriorCat99: **Thank you! :D It always makes me happy to see a new name on the review list.

**Story Recommendation:**

_The Marked Series by Moving to Mars_

* * *

><p>Life was different with his father in charge of IceClan. If he was really in charge; it seemed that Strikeheart, who Couragestar had named deputy the day before, was making all of the decisions. Which was probably for the better of the clan; it wouldn't do to have a mentally insane cat in charge of the strongest fighting force in the forest.<p>

A lot of cats had taken to supporting Strikeheart. It was understandable...Nightpaw even sort of supported him.

_**But Courage's yer dad. Haven't ya got any sort o' blood loyalty?**_

_Eh...no. _

_**Shame, Nighty. Shame.**_

_Why? My only living blood relative is mentally insane and took over the clan. Should I be supporting him? Don't answer that._

Surprisingly, Daypaw didn't answer. Was he finally going away? Of course...considering Nightpaw was the one with a voice in his head, he shouldn't blame Daypaw-

_Whack!_

Nightpaw stumbled sideways, narrowing his eyes to try and keep from crying out. He'd thought that nobody would bother him out here, being basically almost over the MoonClan border. And now he was, seeing as he'd skidded sideways a few pawsteps. He stood there, almost in the stream, trying to make sense of what had happened.

Talonstrike was standing in front of him, smirk on his reddish-furred face. Hawkslayer and Jaggedfang slipped out from behind a tree.

_**Wow, they prolly rehearsed it!**_

_I've got enough problems to deal with at the moment. _

"What?" Nightpaw meowed, keeping his tone even. Talonstrike smirked again.

"Aw, the dictator's son doesn't know what's going on?" Hawkslayer meowed, almost as if she was talking to a kit. Her long, dark brown tail brushed the ground softly.

"Dictator's son? What, you think that I associate with – or even like – Couragestar?" Nightpaw snapped, resisting the urge to step back. Not only would he be taking the same route as Quietpaw had – except maybe surviving – but he'd definitely be over the border then. And, from the scent of it, a patrol of MoonClan cats were coming! Oh, how lovely.

_**Sarcasm's the lowest form o' humor.**_

_Shut up. You're sarcastic all the time!_

_**Everything outta this mouth's true! Most o' the time. **_

"Still, we need to vent out our frustrations. And you're still related to him by blood...I mean, it's not like we can go up and kill Courageflame, right?" Hawkslayer countered, taking another step forward.

"Couragestar," Nightpaw automatically corrected. That probably wasn't the right thing to say, because Talonstrike's paw came swooping down at his head again. Nightpaw ducked, the paw whooshing above his head.

"Fast," Talonstrike meowed thoughtfully. "Why don't you get back on this side of the border?"

"No thanks," Nightpaw meowed, voice unconsciously going up an octave. The smirk reappeared on Talonstrike's face. _Foxdung. And there's not even Daypaw. Somehow, he distracts me. It's not fun thinking about what's currently happening, especially if what's currently happening is three of the __youngest, most hot-headed warriors – and considering IceClan, that's saying something – are cornering me, on the border of MoonClan, or slightly over, depending on how you look at it, because they're mad at my dad for throwing out the cat they shared their apprentice-ship with out of the leader's den. And that's probably not even a bad thing. At least Couragestar has more experience...and Strikeheart certainly does, because he was being groomed for the next deputy, anyway._

"Lost in thought?" Talonstrike meowed almost conversationally, moving forward. Nightpaw took a step backwards, paw splashing in the shallow, slow-moving water.

"Intruuuuuuuder!" A sing-song-y voice called.

"Forgot about the patrol," Nightpaw muttered, withdrawing his paw immediately. "Besides, I'm already across the border." Nevertheless, he withdrew his paw, shaking it dry.

"So, you're coming with us! Fantastic!" Talonstrike purred, an emotion Nightpaw couldn't place glinting in his green eyes.

"No, no..."

"So you'll be an intruder!" the voice chirped. She – or at least, Nightpaw assumed it was a she – still hadn't shown herself, but he figured it was only a few minutes until she would.

"Uh...actually, I think I might take that option," Nightpaw meowed, spinning around and jumping into the river and beginning to spring with the current, cursing as he almost twisted his paw. _I hate water, _he thought, narrowing his eyes as he heard Talonstrike and his gang give chase. They were still in IceClan territory, and now he heard the MoonClan patrol giving chase as well, heavy paws thumping against the ground.

He chanced a glance at the MoonClan cats chasing him. It was a tom...the biggest tom he'd ever seen, actually. A gigantic, jet black tom with bright green eyes. It was kind of unnerving, considering the voice that he'd heard had been distinctly high-pitched. Almost more high-pitched than Lilacpaw's.

"Foxdung," Nightpaw meowed, speeding up. He was a pretty fast cat, and he was with the current, so he should be able to get away, right?

_**Nope!**_

With a growl, the large black tom launched himself into the air, squarely landing on Nightpaw's shoulders and forcing him to face-plant into the river. His head surfaced immediately, sputtering and coughing. "Take your apprentice back," the tom growled; thankfully, his voice wasn't the high-pitched one.

The squeaky one giggled, and a black tortoiseshell bounced out from behind a rock. "Aw, but he's cute! Can't we keep him!"

"Please," Nightpaw muttered. Her ears pricked up.

"Really? Your clan won't mind?"

"Probably not. Half of them can't even remember my name," Nightpaw replied.

The she-cat's face adopted a serious look. "In MoonClan, you're not just a number. You're...er...you look like you'd be a Shadowpaw! In MoonClan, you're not just a number. You're Shadowpaw."

Nightpaw sighed. "Great." _It follows me everywhere. _

"We'll take him," Hawkslayer butted in. "We're...training."

"Didn't look like you were training," the large tom grunted, but he stepped off of Nightpaw, anyway. Nightpaw took in a huge gulp of air as soon as the immense weight was lifted off of his shoulders. "But, here you go."

"Perfect," Talonstrike meowed, grinning.

* * *

><p>"<em>So, you're going to go look for that she-cat." Shadestorm looked at him, a confused look on his dark gray fur. <em>

_Courageflame nodded, flexing his claws. "She...I mean, she...intrigues me."_

"_She was kind of hot," Shadestorm admitted. "But, I've got Jasmineleaf. Why don't you take..." He thought for a minute. "Violetpetal? She's pretty."_

"_No, I'm going to find her. See you later!" With that, Courageflame jumped to his paws and waved his tail in good-bye. _

"_Wait, you're not leaving me, are you?" Shadestorm meowed, leaping to his paws. "I'll come with you!"_

"_Shadestorm, we're warriors now...We can't still stick together all the time..." Courageflame trailed off. Even though they were warriors, it had been the first time separated for a while. Sure,a couple of times when they were apprentices, but... "You could...talk to Jasmineleaf?" he suggested weakly. "Or talk to Icepaw, ever since Bramblepaw died he's branched out more."_

_Shadestorm sighed, eyes downcast. "Yeah, I'll go talk to Icepaw, I guess. Jasmineleaf's busy. She's on the sunhigh patrol, remember?"_

"_Shade, I don't stalk your mate. That's creepy," Courageflame meowed, an easy smile on his face. Shadestorm laughed and padded away, back towards camp. As soon as his littermate was out of sight, a steely determination appeared in Courageflame's eyes. "I've got to find her."_

* * *

><p>Nightpaw was deposited in the elder's den back at camp. Immediately, he jumped to his paws, shaking the dust, mud, and water out of his pelt. After a couple of seconds, he decided to just groom it out. "Enough of that!" Hawkslayer snapped. Nightpaw jumped.<p>

"Okay..." he meowed, keeping the quaver out of his voice. They couldn't do anything _too _bad to him...they were in the elder's den, for StarClan's sake! While the elders were on their mid-day walk, of course.

Flakestorm and Shellblossom entered the den. "You've got him!" Flakestorm meowed brightly. "Now we can start!"

_Start what? _Nightpaw wondered. This day was turning out to be abnormally weird; first he's kitnapped by three of his clanmates, then Daypaw disappears.

Lightpaw entered the den, her mouth full of moss. "What's going on here?" she meowed, voice muffled. "Nightpaw, are you okay?"

"You know my name!" Nightpaw cheered. Lightpaw gave a weak smile.

"Y-yeah..." she meowed. "Come on, let's get out of here."

"Oh, StarClan, thank you," Nightpaw breathed, following her out of the den. Thank StarClan she was the medicine cat apprentice. Thank StarClan she was going to change the elder's bedding.

Thank StarClan for Lightpaw.

* * *

><p><strong>Flashback time! Woohoo! I love flashbacks. :) We'll see more of them, and there will be more 'what's going on in IceClan! - Couragestar style!' <strong>


	10. Chapter Nine: Blizzardpaw

**Oh lord, I'm sorry that I've been gone forever. Blame two things - a random obsession with Romeo and Juliet, and NaNoWriMo.**

**For those of you who don't know what that is, it's basically where you write a 50,000 word novel in a month, November. I managed to finish mine early, with it ending up at 54,300 words. I don't think it's too bad, considering I started two days late, it's my first year, and I'm fourteen. xP Anyway, I'm pretty happy with the finished product.**

**Also, because of sheer lack of stories to recommend, I'm going to start putting down ACTUAL books, like, published ones that you should/need to read.**

**Frostbreeze of RiverClan: **Ahh… I'm sorry it's been so long. X3 Read above explanation.

**dragonFELL: **Darnit. *facepalm* Anyway, flashbacks. I think maybe. I love flashbacks. Though, in anime, sometimes they get long. Especially if they're in the middle of a fight. BUT, anyway, yeah. Daypaw is win.

**AsTheDarknessFalls: **Yeah, I do feel kind of bad about killing Iciclepaw. Especially because it was mainly a spur-of-the-moment decision in the original.

**Recommended Reading:**

_The Farsala Trilogy by Hilari Bell_

* * *

><p>Blizzardpaw stretched, yawning. Oops, she'd slept in again! That was probably an issue. Of course, Strikeheart had said that today something special was happening today, so maybe there wouldn't be an issue… right? Maybe she wouldn't get in trouble for oversleeping?<p>

Surely she wasn't the only one that had overslept, right? Blizzardpaw cast her eyes around the den, sighing as she saw that she was the last one to wake up. Mousedung.

Blizzardpaw groomed herself hastily. Even if she was late, she still had to look good, didn't she? Even if it was for a tom that she was pretty sure hated her. But… Nightpaw had an air of mystery about him that she loved. And it was so adorable when he got lost in thought and accidentally shouted something random out. Like, 'shut up!'

She padded out of the apprentice's den. Strikeheart was waiting by the fresh-kill pile. At least he hadn't left her. It wouldn't be the first time that she'd have to track him down. New training exercise, he called it. Well, it was kind of annoying. Especially when he started going through rivers, or jumping through trees. That was annoying. Why did she have to have such an efficient mentor?

He smiled as she walked closer. She readied an apology. "I'm sorry, I lost-"

"It's all right, Blizzardpaw," he said softly. "There's a ceremony today. Finchkit and Branchkit are to be made apprentices."

Blizzardpaw gasped. "Really? Oh my StarClan, that's so awesome! We're going to have more apprentices! IceClan's doing great, isn't it? Despite the whole Icestar disappearing incident…"

Strikeheart nodded, looking around at the rogues that were scattered around camp. "But you can't doubt that IceClan is still quite strong. I'm going to try everything I can to keep this Clan strong while I serve as deputy. Even though the leader is an insane fool, I will still take my duties as deputy seriously."

Blizzardpaw nodded, eyes wide. Why didn't this amazing tom have a mate? Well, he had had a mate, and Kestrelpaw and Fawnpaw were his kits, but still! It's amazing how he was able to stay single. Maybe it was Icestar's presence. Blizzardpaw used to like him. And it's not like there had been an insane age difference, because he was only like, six moons older than her. That was an okay age difference.

Anyway, back to the day. Strikeheart had moved away to order some patrols, talking to a dark tabby. Blizzardpaw sighed. Where was Stormpaw? Or any of the other apprentices, surely they couldn't all be training! At least a few of them had to be… had to be lying around or something!

Couragestar padded out of Icestar's den slowly, jumping on top of it quickly. "Cats of… cats of IceClan!" he said, glancing at Strikeheart, who nodded. "I am going to appoint two new apprentices! Nightkit and Quietkit, come forward!"

"Finchkit and Branchkit," Strikeheart hissed. None too quietly, either. Wait a minute, hadn't Nightpaw's sister been named Quietpaw? Yeah, the deaf one! Awk-ward!

"Yeah, Finchkit and Branchkit…" Couragestar meowed, shaking his head quickly. "Anyway, Finchkit, you'll be Finchpaw and your mentor will be Apollo. Branchkit, you're now going to be known as Branchpaw and your mentor will be… um… Sha-"

Strikeheart cut in. "Sootsplash. Hooray, hooray, the ceremony's over!"

Blizzardpaw blinked. That was even more awkward.

* * *

><p>"We're gonna be headin' back now," the black cat said, grinning. The cat seemed strangely familiar… oh well, Courageflame was sure he was of no importance!<p>

"Yeah, sure," Courageflame said, rolling his eyes. "Who are you, anyway?"

"Pineapple! God, I've told ya that 'bout a hundr'd times now!"

* * *

><p>Hunting. There was nothing she hated more. Sure, she was good at it, but once Strikeheart had learned how good she was at hunting, he'd taken advantage of it and sent her hunting every single day! It was a little annoying, to say the least.<p>

But at least there was a rabbit up there somewhere. And another cat. By the sharp, slightly tangy scent, Blizzardpaw could tell that it was Nightpaw. Ooh, maybe she could sneak up on him! Hee hee!

She crept around the scent of where the rabbit probably was and toward Nightpaw's. One… two… three! She leaped, landing on his shoulders. He yelped and shook her off.

"What the… Blizzardpaw…" he said, panting. Aww, he looked so cute with his fur all ruffled! She just wanted to do inappropriate things to him then and there!

"Oh, sorry!" she said, adopting that stupid act she'd used so many times. She added a giggle, just for effect. "I thought you were the rabbit I've been stalking!"

Nightpaw nodded. He had gotten himself under control now, but oh well. He was cute when he was flustered, but Blizzardpaw thought that if he was flustered all the time, it would be a little annoying. But that would probably be a sure-fire way of telling if he liked her!

But since he wasn't flustered, he probably didn't like her.

"So, have you been hunting?" Blizzardpaw asked. She didn't know why she still pressed conversation with him, but she tried.

"No."

He just left it at that. "What have you been doing?" she asked. Oh no! Her fake smile was slipping! Ahhh! "I've got to go!"

* * *

><p><strong>I'm… actually not quite sure what just happened… well… review! :D<strong>

**And you have no idea how many smileys I wanted to insert during Blizzardpaw's part. **


	11. Chapter Ten: Nightpaw

**And we're back for yet another exciting installment of Shadows of the Night: Book One: The Disappearance! Yay! Applause! World Peace! No Global Warming! Woohoo!**

**Anyway, on to the review replies…**

**WarriorCat99: **He does have a messed up mind. And yes, you will have to wait for all of those answers. X3 And yes, Blizzardpaw is a slight airhead.

**DaughterofZeusRules: **OMFG NaNo. I participated in that too! What's your username? I want to add you as a writing buddy. X3

**TabbyCat97: **Yeah, stupid Courageflame.

**Frostbreeze of WindClan: **Haha, I'm glad you did.

**Recommended Reading:**

Incarceron by Catherine Fisher

* * *

><p>Nightpaw was up late again, just sitting outside, watching the sky. He did that a lot lately.<p>

Daypaw hadn't been appearing as often during the night, and it was good to get some silence. If he went to sleep, the cat would just appear in his dreams.

Something shimmered in front of him. Nightpaw yelped and jumped, staring at the cat that had just randomly appeared in front of him. "What-who- wait a minute, Stormylight?"

The cat grinned cheerfully. "You've got it!" he said, stretching. "Wow, the clans have changed a bunch since I left. Lots more cats now. Hey, why are you outside when you should be sleeping?"

"Daypaw," Nightpaw meowed. Stormylight nodded.

"Your imaginary tormenter. Anyway, you've got to run to the gathering place quick. Emergency prophecy meeting," he said, grinning. Nightpaw blinked.

"An emergency prophecy meeting? StarClan really isn't very organized, is it? By the way, aren't you supposed to appear in dreams?" Nightpaw asked. Wow, he was a lot more talkative when Daypaw wasn't around.

Of course, he spent all his talking on Daypaw when the irritant was around.

"You're not sleeping," Stormylight pointed out. "And it's an emergency meeting."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Nightpaw muttered, stretching and padding out of camp slowly.

"What part of emergency meeting to you not understand?" Stormylight growled, racing ahead of him. Nightpaw rolled his eyes and brought his pace up to a trot, reaching the gathering place in a few minutes. Why did IceClan have it's camp so close to the border? It was kind of stupid, really. Way less protected.

Of course, there was the multiple thorns... but, hey, if tons of cats could get used to them, an invader could, too, right?

Two other cats were sitting at the gathering place, each with a shimmering StarClan companion.

One of the living cats was the apprentice from NightClan, the skinny one with the girl name. Featherpaw.

"So I'm here. What do you want?" Nightpaw said shortly, sitting down.

"You were being so nice earlier!" Stormylight complained.

"Shut up. So, you're the others? NightClan and MoonClan? What about FoxClan?" Nightpaw plowed on with his questions. The prophecy had said 'shadows of the night will collect the three', so he was probably the leader.

Ha. Him, leader. That was an interestingly hilarious thought.

"She died!" Stormylight meowed brightly. "She was only like, six moons, too. I still don't know why Scratchclaw picked her. But now she's dead, and you three aren't and leaving in two chapters."

"Chapters?" Nightpaw meowed, blinking.

"Um, a few days. Maybe three. Or four. Whatever," Stormylight meowed, looking down.

* * *

><p><em>"I hate being a she-cat!"<em>

_Courageflame winced as he stood outside the nursery. His precious Midnightlight was having kits, and it didn't sound like she was having fun._

_If he would have known it would hurt this much for her, he never would have done it. Though it was kind of fun... Shadestorm was right about one thing... anyway, he never would have done it!_

_Bramblepaw stopped on her way to the fresh-kill pile. "StarClan, what's wrong with her?" she asked, bright green eyes wide._

_"She's having kits," Courageflame meowed. Bramblepaw's eyes widened even more._

_"I am never having kits," she decided, seeing Icepaw and tackling him._

_"Yeah. Sure," Courageflame snorted as soon as he was sure she was out of hearing range._

_It was two moons after Midnightlight had had the kits. Courageflame was graced with a tom and a she-cat. His little guy looked exactly like Midnightlight, so he very cleverly named him Nightkit. The she-cat was deaf, and Midnightlight had insisted she be named Quietkit._

_Nightkit was a little antisocial, but it was okay. He was adorable. Midnightlight, Courageflame, and Quietkit were sitting in the camp. Nightkit was exploring._

_They took their eyes off of him for one minute and, suddenly, he was on top of Lightstar's den._

_"Damn it Nightkit!" Midnightlight shouted. "Get down!"_

_That was another thing Courageflame liked about Midnightlight. She used so many foreign words._

_"I can't!" Nightkit squeaked. Icepaw stood up, white fur gleaming._

_"Listen as I talk in my total hero voice, I'll get him down!" he proclaimed._

_"He's like, as big as you! You wouldn't be able to get him down in a million years!" Bramblepaw meowed, giving him a playful smirk._

_"Would too!" Icepaw insisted._

_"Would not!"_

_"Would too!"_

_"Would not!"_

_This went on for about ten minutes. Eventually, Nightkit got bored and just jumped onto the ground, stumbling a little. "Ow. My paw hurts."_

_Midnightlight rolled her eyes. "Be a man."_

_"Here, I'll get you to Juniperberry," Courageflame meowed, picking him up by the scruff and carrying him to the medicine cat den._

* * *

><p>"So we're supposed to find Icestar?" Ivypaw asked, tilting her head to the side. "But isn't IceClan doing better with Courageflame as leader?"<p>

"Idiot! That means other clans won't do as well!" Hypnos muttered. Ivypaw looked down.

"I agree with Ivypaw," Nightpaw meowed.

"It's like, justice or something," Stormylight meowed.

"The first Icestar wants his descendent back. And the rogues are against the warrior code," Spinechill meowed coldly.

"Hey, he's more emotionless than you!"

"Shut up, Stormylight," Nightpaw meowed, flushing.

"But IceClan doesn't follow the warrior code," Featherpaw pointed out. "Or at least, the bend the rules as much as they can."

"True," Hypnos meowed, nodding.

"You are technically not supposed to be a clan cat," Spinechill meowed.

Hypnos shrugged. "Whatever."

"You know how they got Icestar as their leader? Lightstar gave him an apprentice while he was still an apprentice so he could follow in his daddy's footsteps," Stormylight meowed, grinning.

"Enough gossip. Let us go home," Spinechill meowed.

With that, the three StarClan cats disappeared and the prophecy cats were left there.

"Um, that was a little" Featherpaw yawned. "Random."

* * *

><p><strong>Yay for breakage of the fourth wall? :3<strong>


	12. Chapter Eleven: Nightpaw

**Tis late. Sorry, I was at a place for a few days where I had no internet access. Or laptop. Yeah, it's sad. On the weird side, I saw a transgender person. It was a very odd experience. And also kind of cool. Anyway, on to the review replies! :D**

**Lunara the ara: **Yeah, I'll take a look at it. :) Thanks for reviewing! :D

**DaughterofZeusRules: **Aaaaaaand I just added you! :D I'm 32AurorA05. Anyway, yeah, breaking the fourth wall is always fun. I'm glad you laughed. x3 And that your parents think your insane. I do believe my parents have thought me insane multiple times. :P

**Veni0Vidi0Vici: **I'm sorry. :P

**Recommended Reading:**

_The Mortal Instruments Series by Cassandra Clare _

* * *

><p><strong>Hey Nighty! Have fun last night?<strong>

Oh StarClan, Daypaw was back. Nightpaw had hoped - with a very small portion of his mind, because he was a pessimistic cat - that once Daypaw hadn't shown up in his dream and hadn't been with him the second he woke up, maybe he'd be away.

But all of Nightpaw's dreams were crushed again. Sigh.

**I heard ya went prophecy-meetin'! Got ta be fun.**

Nightpaw ignored him, rolling his eyes and stretching. Today he was going to... er... avoid Windyheart and try not to train today. Why did he not want to train? Well, beside the obvious fact that he hated his mentor, today they were going to be doing a 'fighting tournament.' Nightpaw didn't like the fighting tournaments, because they were stupid and cats like Talonstrike used them to attack little apprentices like Kestrelpaw. And Fawnpaw. And himself.

Maybe he could go exploring near twolegplace. It was incredibly far away from camp, so it would probably be easier to avoid any cats he knew.

**Running away, are we, Nighty?**

_Shut up. I don't need to talk to you._

**Aw, but it ain't fair if you escape all o' the kitties!**

Nightpaw sighed again and, ignoring the looks of his clanmates, padded out of the camp. He heard Windyheart calling after him, but he ignored her and kept on walking. He could deal with her after he finished his ignoring cats.

He did run into quite a few cats on his way to twolegplace, but he ignored their stares and kept walking. That seemed to be his life story – ignore other cats staring at him. Sure, he was emotionless, but that didn't mean that other cats should be able to stare at him whenever they felt like it.

Twolegplace was as loud and annoying as he remembered. The creepy mountain-like things that bordered the forest were gigantic, as always. The only new thing was a young cat, about apprentice-aged, stretching on the fence.

"Hi!" the cat meowed in an extremely deep voice. Nightpaw blinked. Oh StarClan, that was messed up. The cat had the scent of the cats that had went to that... that one place where they were messed up inside. And it looked extremely feminine. Matched with the extremely deep meow, it really made no sense.

* * *

><p>As Midnightlight would say, what the hell was going on? There were weird cats traipsing around camp, joking with each other and random IceClan - or he assumed they were IceClan, they certainly smelled like IceClan, even though he recognized next to none of them - cats, all who looked slightly disturbed.<p>

Hey, was that Strikeheart? Someone he recognized! Hooray! Rejoice! "Strikeheart!" Courageflame called, brightening as the thick-furred black tom padded toward him.

"Couragestar-"

"Couragestar? Whoa, when did I become leader?" Courageflame meowed, uneasy grin on his face. Something seemed wrong, extremely wrong. What was going on? Generally, Courageflame would think this to be some sort of joke by Shadestorm, but Strikeheart kind of hated Shadestorm, plus, Strikeheart didn't really ever prank cats. At all. Strikeheart was kind of a boring cat.

Strikeheart narrowed his eyes. "Couragestar, I must insist you go back to your den," he hissed, shoving the smaller cat back to the entrance of the leader's den.

"No, Strikeheart, leave me alone," Courageflame meowed, shaking his head and pushing his way past, pushing his way toward a group of odd-smelling cats. "Hey, cats that I don't know, why are you here?"

A dark tabby looked startled. "Um, you brought us here when you got rid of that other cat... Icesomethingorother..." the cat trailed off, eyes looking from side to side nervously.

"What?" Courageflame meowed, eyes widening. "What are you talking about? Where's Shadestorm? Why are you here? Where's Lightstar? Why is Strikeheart calling me Couragestar? What..."

He trailed off, glancing at the nursery. On a day like this, Midnightlight would be sitting outside, watching their two kits with an expression of disgust on her face. But she wasn't there. "Where's Midnightlight and my kits?"

* * *

><p>"Would you stop following me?" Nightpaw growled, spinning around. The cat popped out from behind a tree and frowned.<p>

"Aw, but I thought I was being sneaky!" it complained.

"A kit could smell your kittypet stench from a mile away," Nightpaw snorted, stretching. The cat tilted its head to the side.

**You've confus'd it, Nighty!**

_It's an idiot._

**Tha's not nice! What if... yeah, it's an idiot. 'ey, we agreed!**

"Are you all right?" the cat meowed, bringing him out of his conversation with Daypaw. "You looked like you were talking to yourself, except you weren't actually talking."

"Shut up," Nightpaw muttered. He knew he had problems. He didn't need random kittypets telling him.

"Where do you come from? Is it one of those clans? Oh no, are you going to eat me?" the cat meowed, eyes widening. It had giant blue eyes, with creamy fur, except its face and tail tip and paws and ears. Actually, if it was a she-cat, it would have been kind of cute.

But it wasn't a she-cat, probably. StarClan, this was confusing. Were all kittypets like this?

"So? Are you going to eat me?"

"No. I'm not going to eat you. You're all fat, it would be disgusting," Nightpaw meowed, falling back on the old 'I'm not going to eat you because you would taste disgusting' excuse that had helped out many clan cats when they were faced with a kittypet.

"I'm Juliet!" the cat meowed brightly. "Or Julien. I have gender issues!"

"Yeah..." Nightpaw meowed, nodding and backing away slowly. StarClan, what was up with this cat?

~Good job Nighty. Backin' up slowly always works.~

"What's your name?" Juliet-n-whatever meowed, tipping his-her-its head to the side. "Can I come see the clan? What's it called?"

**Kill it!**

_That would be slightly against something, I'm sure._

**I don' think there's anything in th' code 'gainst killin' kittypets.**

_Oh, well, in that case_…

**Blood! Blood! Blood!**

_That was sarcasm._

**Awwwww...**

"You're weird. I'm leaving," the cat announced, turning around and bounding away. Nightpaw blinked.

"That was surprisingly easy," he muttered.

* * *

><p><strong>Yes, a filler chapter. A short filler chapter.<strong>


	13. Chapter Twelve: Bramblepaw

**And I'm updating regularly! :D And this one's not filler in the least! Hooray for not-filler! :D**

**Partly because I sometimes am too lazy to write a chapter if I have written down that it's a filler. :P But enough of that! It's time for the review replies! :D**

**... Well this is awkward. No reviews last chapter. We'll skip that category today! :D**

**Recommended Reading:**

_The Percy Jackson Series by Rick Riordan (Yeah. Like you haven't read that already. xP)_

* * *

><p>"Get up," Bramblepaw meowed, prodding the tiny FoxClan apprentice. She'd thought she was small, but this FoxClan kitty? Kit-sized. Of course, she'd listened in on her trial, and she was only six moons old... but whatever boosts your own moral, right?<p>

The kit blinked open her eyes and yawned. "What do you want..." she mumbled.

"There's a prophecy discussion. Now. Follow me," Bramblepaw meowed, turning around and padding away, tail flicking back and forth.

She heard the kit scramble to follow her.

"You're Bramblepaw, right?"

Great. It was a curious one. Nothing annoyed Bramblepaw more than those cats that had to know everything. "Yep," she said, plowing through the group of cats.

They moved through the camp quickly, Bramblepaw nodding to a few cats she recognized as they passed them.

A few minutes after they left camp, Bramblepaw took a sharp left and they ended up in a rather large clearing. "Here," she said bluntly, turning around to leave.

"You're just going to be listening in anyway, so just stay here," Midnightlight meowed, rolling her eyes. Bramblepaw smirked and turned back around. "Besides, weren't you and the little Ice in love or something?"

Bramblepaw felt her face heat up. "We were not in love," she growled. Midnightlight rolled her eyes.

"Yeah. Sure," the black she-cat meowed. "I believe that. Anyway. You. Icypaw or something. Hey, what's up with all of the 'ice' names? Isn't that supposed to be sacred, or something?"

"Yeah, something like that. But because it's Icestar, I don't think it really matters," Bramblepaw shrugged.

"You mean little Icestar or original Icestar?"

"Original Icestar."

"Oh, you were insulting him," Midnightlight meowed, nodding. "You hear that, Icestar?"

The small, gray-and-white tom scowled. "If you weren't cute, Bramblepaw, you would be dead. Again."

"Ooh, looks like you've got another ice admirer," Sunheart purred, nudging Bramblepaw with her shoulder.

"Shut up. Icestar sexually harasses any she-cat he can get his paws on," Bramblepaw muttered.

"Which one?" Icestar asked.

"Both!" Sunheart meowed, giggling.

"Okay, we aren't here to gossip about Icestars," Foxstar meowed, steering the conversation back to its original purpose. "We need to discuss the prophecy. And where little Icestar is."

"Yeah, where the hell is he?" Midnightlight muttered. "That's probably an issue, that we lost him. O'course, IceClan's doing much better without-"

"We all know how much you like Courageflame! I want my descendent back!" Icestar growled, bristling. He took a step forward. "We are not leaving IceClan in the paws of that mousebrained idiot!"

"Isn't that redundant?" Sunheart asked, tilting her pale ginger head to the side.

"Anyway!" Foxstar meowed, ears twitching irritably. "Icestar, why aren't you leading this meeting? It mostly just concerns IceClan, after all. Hey, why was an apprentice of my clan supposed to go? And where are those idiotic sponsors?"

"Taking the day off," Icestar meowed, shuffling his paws apologetically. "Sorry Fox. They've got a meeting tomorrow, so I said that they could take today and tomorrow during the day off."

Foxstar sighed. "Great. So it's you, the rogue, Bramblepaw, and Sunheart from your clan that's going to participate in this discussion."

"Not just them," a new voice meowed. Bramblepaw blinked. He'd been staying in the shadows ever since his ascent to StarClan.

All eyes were on the dark gray tom as he stepped into the light.

* * *

><p>Something was wrong. Courageflame couldn't quite place it, but something was... off today. Sure, on the outside everything was okay - well, as okay as it could get with a ton of random cats in the IceClan camp - but everyone seemed tense.<p>

Even Strikeheart, who was generally calm, stayed on the edges of camp, speaking quietly to Flakestorm. Why Flakestorm, of all cats? The she-cat was a complete mousebrain.

With a nod, Strikeheart padded back over to Courageflame. "Flakestorm has agreed to the next part of our plan," he said in a smooth, villain-sounding voice. Honestly, what was up with Strikeheart? He had the most villain-y voice any cat could ever have. Like, ever.

Wait a minute, what was this plan that he was talking about. Plan? Courageflame didn't know anything about any plan. And 'their' plan? Courageflame stayed away from Strikeheart if he could help it. He kept telling Shadestorm to stay away from the cat, but his blue-eyed brother was denser than... than Flakestorm, even!

Where was Flakestorm, anyway? And who was this devious-looking cat talking at Courageflame? This was just weird. He was going to leave. "See you," he muttered, turning around and racing away.

"Couragestar!" the devious-villain-y kitty called after him.

* * *

><p>The entire group stared in shock at their new companion. He looked uncomfortable. "What?" he asked, grinning awkwardly.<p>

"Shadestorm..." Sunheart meowed, blinking. "I didn't... I didn't expect you here."

"Yeah, yeah, sticking to the shadows, et cetera," Shadestorm sighed, stretching out. "But this concerns Courageflame. I need to be here."

"It's your brother's fault," Midnightlight pointed out.

"Hey, he was your mate," Shadestorm meowed. "And one of your kits is incredibly creepy, you know that? I think Stormylight's scarred for life."

"Good," Foxstar muttered. "He's such a mousebrain."

"This isn't really going anywhere," Icestar meowed, glancing up at the sky. Bramblepaw followed his gaze. Oops. It was almost mid-day. They really should get going on this meeting, or Bramblepaw was going to miss her afternoon training session with Darkpaw. "We need to concentrate more."

"Like you're one to talk," Foxstar snorted. "It's all the rogue's fault, anyway, she can't keep the subject off of her precious Courageflame."

"The rogue?" Midnightlight hissed, narrowing her eyes. "It's not like I'm the only rogue that's ever been accepted into clan ranks. What about that one from your clan... Hypnos, was it?"

Foxstar narrowed her eyes.

"He didn't even take a clan name!"

"Neither did you!"

"My name was already clan-like!" Midnightlight hissed. The two she-cats were only pawsteps apart, both looking like they would claw each others fur off at any second.

"Midnightlight? What kind of clan would name its cat something like that?" Foxstar growled. "Besides MoonClan, but they're all a bunch of idiots anyway."

"What was that?" Moonstar hissed, taking a step forward.

"Um, think about it for a second. You've got your insane traditions, 'every leader has to be a silver-colored male with a feminine name', which honestly don't make any sense, you've got a horrible fighting force, and you couldn't care less if you live or die!"

"Like you're one to talk," Icestar snorted, stretching.

"Oh, don't even get me started on your clan," Foxstar growled, eyes glinting dangerously.

"Oh, really? I'd like to hear what you have to say. Midnightlight, back up. This is between leaders," Icestar meowed quietly, smile tugging up the corners of his mouth.

Bramblepaw leaned forward slightly, ready to attack one of the other leaders, just in case Icestar needed her to. Despite how creepy the tom was, he did remind her of /her/ Icestar, and that was good. Because she did miss him.

But they hadn't liked each other. They were just best friends.

Foxstar took a step towards the small, gray-and-white tom. "My clan's a small one. Your clan is huge. But you know what my clan has that yours doesn't?" she practically spit out the next word. "Loyalty."

"Loyalty?" Icestar meowed, eyes narrowed. "Elaborate."

"Your cats switched from Lightstar to Icestar to Courageflame in a matter of moons. And they didn't even bat an eye. Speaking of Lightstar and Icestar, they did worse than Courageflame is doing at the moment!" Foxstar growled. Lightstar was about to complain, but one look from Icestar silenced him.

"It is true that Lightstar wasn't the best leader for IceClan," Icestar meowed, dipping his head. When he raised his head again, however, there was a fire burning there that Bramblepaw had never seen before. "But it's all right for me to say stuff like that, because I'm Icestar. But you... you never insult my clan like that again."

Bramblepaw was barely aware of herself as she jumped forward, connecting with Foxstar. The larger, fluffier cat yelped as she was knocked off balance. "Insolent brat!" she hissed. Bramblepaw barely ducked the claws that came flying toward her face, wincing as they skimmed her right ear.

"Bramblepaw!" Icestar meowed, and then there were sharp teeth in her scruff, dragging her away. "IceClan come with me. We're going to IceClan's camp."

Foxstar's eyes widened. "But that's unheard of! All clans of StarClan must stay together!"

"Sometimes rules must be broken," Icestar meowed coldly. "Sunheart, please collect the other IceClan members."

* * *

><p><strong>I've got a new segment for you! It's going to be a little tidbit thingy about a random kitty from this story. You get to guess who it is. It will probably be fairly obvious.<strong>

**Song Prompt - Crawling by Linkin Park  
><strong>

**He hadn't had any control over himself the last moons of himself. It was like...it was like he was masked...masked by his dark side. His rage had been uncontrollable, uncontrollable until his death. In his last moments of life he'd regained consciousness, but...it was tough. He'd had to say everything he felt towards his son and other clanmates, he had to do it all in a few minutes while Strikeheart chased after the one that had much of the same personality traits as Midnightlight, His rage...it had consumed him...confused him...**

**Review please! We don't want as awkward of a review corner as we had last time! :D**


	14. Chapter Thirteen: Nightpaw

**And we're back! :D Also, thanks to 'Cassie' to my fiftieth review. :3**

**To the not-awkward review reply corner! :D**

**DaughterofZeusRules: **It's okay. :) It was fun to write the arguments; I love those StarClan kitties.

**Cassie: **Thanks. :D

**dragonFELL: **Yeah, Daypaw's been… busy. :3 He'll be back, though, no doubt about that. Ahh! A typo! I hate it when that happens. :P Maybe I should think about going over these before I publish them, yes?

**Frostbreeze of RiverClan: **Um, thanks? x3 I hope that was a wow like 'oh my god this is awesome' rather than a 'I can't believe she wrote that *facepalm*'

**Recommended Reading:**

_The Book Thief by Markus Zusak_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Guess who's baaaaaaack!<strong>_

Oh great. Apparently Nightpaw only had a morning of peace. He was honestly hoping for the entire day, but he should have known not to be so optimistic.

_**Ah! Who's in here? **_A new voice said.

Wait a minute, that sounded oddly like Stormylight. Great. Now his mind was being inhabited by another annoying cat. Great.

_**Th' name's Daypaw.**_

_**Oh, so you're his imaginary tormentor. **_

_**Yep!**_

_**Nice to meet you! I'm Stormylight. **_

_**Nice ta meet you too. So, watcha doin' here?**_

_**I'm going to give him a message because we're too incompetent to send them in dreams, so we end up dropping into their minds and scaring them! Course, Nightpaw's got you, so he's probably not as scared. **_

_**No, prolly not. **_

_**So, how have you been doing?**_

_Okay, enough, _Nightpaw thought. StarClan, this was giving him a headache. It may not have terrified him, but it was annoying enough.

_**Nighty! Nice of ya to join us!**_

_This is my head, idiot. _

_**Oh yeah. Well, Stormy, watcha gonna tell our dear Nighty?**_

_**Um... I forgot. Let me think about this for a few minutes. **_All of the voices inside his head were silent. After a few more moments, Stormylight spoke again. _**Another meeting! That's right! Another meeting, right now. Better hurry, or they'll leave without you!**_

_It was so nice of you to tell me right when I was about to begin afternoon training. _Nightpaw thought. It wasn't missing training that annoyed him, it was-

_**Blizz's trainin' with him today. **_

_Shut up Daypaw. _

_**Ooh, future mate?**_

_No._

_**She don't like 'im.**_

_**But he likes her?**_

_**Yep. **_

_Stop talking about me! So I have to go to the gathering place? Hey, why isn't there a more clever name for our gathering place, like Fourtrees?_

_**Two reasons – 'Fourtrees' has been copyrighted and there's way more than four trees at the gathering place. As a result, we're stuck with calling it 'the gathering place.' I think the originlas-**_

_**Th' originals?**_

_**Original leaders. Duh. Anyway, I think they were too lazy to name it. So, we should probably get going. I was supposed to have the day off today…**_

* * *

><p>"<em>All cats gather… over here… for a clan meeting!" Lightstar called. Couragekit squirmed away from his mother and sprinted across the clearing, skidding to a stop before Lightstar. "That was fast. Um, this kit and his brother are going to be apprentices today."<em>

_Shadekit was soon right beside Couragekit, staring up at Lightstar with his huge blue eyes. "Couragekit's Couragepaw and Shadekit's Shadepaw. I dunno who has an apprentice and who doesn't, so go do whatever. Find someone. But not Swiftclaw. I'm saving him."_

"_For me!" a tiny kit squeaked from the elder's den. Ah. Icekit, Lightstar's son. He was only a moon old, and already bothering the elders. Couragekit was pretty sure Stormylight enjoyed the attention, though. _

_Swiftclaw sighed. "Couragepaw, your mentor will be… Lightfoot. And Shadepaw, you will be mentored by Treewhisker. Don't mess them up too badly." _

* * *

><p>Nightpaw was the last one there, as usual. Featherpaw looked anxious, pacing back and forth, and Ivypaw just looked bored. "Okay, let's go – wait a minute, where are we supposed to go, anyway?"<p>

Stormylight jumped out of his head – literally, he jumped out of Nightpaw's head – and landed on the ground with a thump.

"Hey, if you could do that, why were you in there in the first place?" Nightpaw complained.

"Kits sometimes see spirits. Nobody knows why," Stormylight shrugged. "Plus, I wanted to meet Daypaw. He's awesome!"

_**Thanks!**_

_Shut up, Daypaw. _

Spinechill and Hypnos appeared. "I am sorry for my lack of punctuality," Spinechill meowed.

"Thought we had the day off," Hypnos grumbled.

"I thought we did too! What's up with Foxstar? We could have done this at night!" Stormylight meowed, and soon the three of them were in an overly animated conversation about how Foxstar should be killed – again – and roasted slowly over a fire. That was Hypnos's idea.

"Shut up!" Ivypaw shouted. The three toms looked startled.

"Later please. We're busy," Hypnos meowed, yawning. "Hey, why am I the NightClan kid's guide? I was in FoxClan!"

"Lightstar's stupid," Stormylight muttered.

The other two murmured their agreement. "Can we just leave?" Featherpaw asked, glancing around the gathering place.

**Aw, th' kit's scared!**

_So?_

_**It's cute.**_

Nightpaw blinked. That was certainly odd. Tom's didn't generally think scared apprentices were cute at all. If you thought about it, why would anybody think that scared apprentices were cute? It just didn't

make sense! Ah, who cared.

"Nightpaw? Nightpaw, are you okay?" Featherpaw asked, waving a paw in front of the black tom's face.

"He was talking to Daypaw!" Stormylight informed him. Featherpaw nodded, then tilted his head to the side.

"Who's Daypaw?"

"Nightpaw hears voices," Stormylight meowed, nodding. Hypnos rolled his eyes.

"And he's supposed to be the one to lead these cats?"

"Yep!" Stormylight meowed cheerfully. Yeah, there was nothing wrong with a completely insane cat leading three apprentices to their doom. Nothing wrong with that!

"Let's just go to sleep!" Hypnos decided, curling up and disappearing. Spinechill rolled his eyes, and with a puff of oddly colored smoke, him and Stormylight disappeared.

"I guess we're staying here tonight…" Featherpaw meowed, shifting from paw to paw awkwardly. That word seemed to explain Featherpaw perfectly – awkward.

"Yeah. Whatever," Nightpaw meowed, glancing up at the sky. He would have had time to train with Blizzardpaw.

* * *

><p><strong>Did you like it? :)<strong>


	15. Chapter Fourteen: Nightpaw

**And we're back for another exciting installment of Shadows of the Night: Book One: The Disappearance! I have a feeling that I start this the same way each time.**

**Review corner time!**

**DaughterofZeusRules:** Haha, thanks. :) Stormylight and Daypaw are so fun; I feel bad for Nightpaw.

**Cassi: **I thought it was you! Darn that autocorrect. x3

**Frostbreeze of RiverClan: **Yeah, she just kind of became an important character on her own. She's just that cool.

**dragonFELL: **Yeah, filler chapters exist to be filler. :P I'm glad the Courageflame stuff was good enough. :)

**Recommended Reading:**

_The Clockwork Three by Matthew J. Kirby_

* * *

><p>Nightpaw stretched and yawned. Wasn't something important supposed to happen today?<p>

_**Blizz's warrior ceremony.**_

Nightpaw jumped to his paws. That was it! Blizzardpaw and Stormpaw were being made warriors today. Oh StarClan, he did need to go see that. Thankfully, he was the first one up. Not bothering to tell anyone where he was going, Nightpaw slipped out of the gathering place and toward the IceClan camp, not bothering to disguise his scent or anything of the sort. If they wanted to come find him, then they could. Hopefully, though, they'd just leave him alone and he could just stay home.

Of course, considering how cats had been treating him lately - had always treated him, actually - it might do his self-esteem a little good to go on this 'quest.'

Even if nobody really wanted Icestar back. Then, not only would they blame him for his dad's idiocy, but they'd blame him for bringing back a leader nobody had ever really wanted. However popular Icestar may have been, he wasn't a good leader. At all.

Daypaw was being surprisingly quiet today. Just one sentence, and even then he'd been helping Nightpaw out. Hm. Maybe he was busy or something. But wait a minute, Daypaw couldn't be busy! He was imaginary!

But Stormylight had been able to talk to him...

Oh well, it didn't really matter. Blizzardpaw's warrior ceremony was supposed to happen a little after sunrise. If he wanted to make it on time, he would have to hurry.

Nightpaw decided to run the rest of the way, hiding in the thorns behind the leader's den. There. He could almost see her clearly. She looked nervous, standing beside Stormpaw, fur groomed to perfection.

Strikeheart was just starting the ceremony. Where was his father? There he was, pushing his way past cats. "You keep telling me I'm Couragestar, so I'm doing the ceremony," the dark gray tom growled. Strikeheart looked a bit angry, but dipped his head to Courageflame nonetheless.

_**Ah, this is gonna be interesting.**_

_You're back._

_**That I am! Ya've got great pow'rs of observation, Nighty.**_

Courageflame was going through the normal procedures of a ceremony. "I, Couragestar, apparently leader of... whatever clan this is..." he looked to Strikeheart for help.

"IceClan," the black tom said through gritted teeth.

"Yeah, okay. Anyway, I call upon StarClan to look down on these apprentices. They have trained hard and whatnot, so they're going to be warriors. Stormpaw!"

The gray tortoiseshell took a step forward.

"You're going to be..." Nightpaw saw Courageflame look around at the rogues. They looked slightly confused. "Stormslayer."

Stormpaw- No, Stormslayer - what kind of ridiculous name was that, anyway? - looked confused. Courageflame was already moving on to Blizzardpaw, however.

"Blizzardpaw. You shall be known as Blizzard... Blizzardfang," Courageflame meowed, looking proud of himself. Blizzardpaw blinked.

"B-Blizzardfang?" she choked out.

Daypaw began to laugh. _**Looks like yer sweet little Blizzard's not so sweet anymore, ey?**_

_Shut up._ Nightpaw fumed, narrowing his eyes. How dare he name her something so horrible? Even Stormslayer was better than Blizzardfang! Blizzardfang was a name for toms, not for Blizzardpaw. Blizzardpaw deserved a name like Blizzardcloud or Blizzardpetal or Blizzardsnow or something adorable like that.

Anything would be better than Blizzardfang.

Well, except maybe Blizzardslayer. That was kind of bordering on completely and utterly stupid.

* * *

><p>When Courageflame was younger, he'd had a resolution. If he were to ever become leader, the first warrior ceremony he conducted, he would give the warriors completely and utterly ridiculous names. So that's what he did. Strikeheart was mad, but who was he to say anything?<p>

Actually, he'd heard a few cats call him deputy, but why would he be deputy? Courageflame certainly wouldn't ever appoint Strikeheart as deputy... no it would be Shadestorm.

Where was Shadestorm, anyway?

Who was Shadestorm?

There was really something to think about. All this time, he'd been thinking about a Shadestorm. But who was Shadestorm? And who was this Midnightlight he'd been thinking about? And Nightkit and Quietkit; who were they?

Who was he?

He blinked, looking around at all of the cats that were surrounding them. He didn't know any of them, either. He needed to get out of here, and quickly.

"I'm... good-bye!" he said, turning around and racing away. A bit from the exit of that awful place, he nearly killed a small, black cat. Probably only a few moons older than kit, he realized.

The kit got up, coughing. "What, had enough fun ruining Blizzardpaw's life and now come to ruin mine as well?"

Blizzardpaw? Who was Blizzardpaw? Furthermore, what kind of name was Blizzardpaw? He didn't know what his name was, but he was sure it wasn't as ridiculous as Blizzardpaw. Drop the paw and the cat would be good. Blizzard was a perfectly good name.

The kit in front of him blinked. "You're not talking. Shut up!"

"I... haven't said anything," he said, looking closer at the young tom. It did look like he was arguing with himself. "Are you all right?"

The kit snarled at him and raced off. Okay. That was weird.

* * *

><p>What had been up with his father? He hadn't said anything! He'd just stood there, perfectly normal. It was insanely weird.<p>

_**Maybe he's forgotten so much he don' know who 'e is.**_

_Shut up. That's insane and would never happen._

* * *

><p><strong>I'm sorry it's so short. :P Oh well.<strong>


	16. Chapter Fifteen: Icestar the First

**And I'm back slightly late! :D Well, that's okay, because I've abandoned all hopes of a schedule because schedules are stupid, so do not expect an update every Sunday. Or every week, probably. Sporadic updates for the win!**

**Anyway, review replies time:**

**DaughterofZeusRules:** Hahaha, Courageflame is awesome. x) As is Nightpaw. Like father, like son, I suppose.

**AsTheDarknessFalls:** I'm glad she does! :D And, yeah, fillers are fun. And generally useless.

**dragonFELL:** I love Midnightlight. x333 She's my way of pointing out stupid I've done. And the MoonClan stuff? Um. Yeah. Trying to explain why the leader's a silver TOM named Shimmerstar.

**Recommended Reading:**

_Malice by Chris Wooding_

* * *

><p>Ah, the wonders of being completely and utterly awesome. Oh, and being one of the four founders. That was cool, too. Everyone did what he said, all the time! If Icestar was being honest, he really liked it.<p>

But he was going to have to make peace with Foxstar if his plan was going to work. The small gray-and-white tom snarled softly, getting to his paws and stretching. The StarClan-IceClan camp wasn't as luxurious as the StarClan-StarClan camp was, and, frankly, he missed it. His den back there was twice the size of this stupid one he had been sleeping in.

But who should he take? He knew what they were going to have to do, and he'd prefer if he had an extra IceClan cat down there, you know, to keep an eye on Stormylight. The black kit wouldn't be able to do that, especially considering his little issue.

But, hey, nothing made for a good plot more than a few messed-up cats, right? Right.

Bramblepaw would have to do. Then her little love with the other Icestar could continue. Even Icestar, who was a big fan of not sticking with one she-cat for more than a moon or so, thought they were adorable together.

The leader padded out of his insanely tiny den. There she was, sulking over by the apprentice's den. "Bramblepaw! I need you for something," he called, grinning as she sighed and got to her paws.

"What do you want?" she asked.

"That's not any way to talk to your glorious founder!" Icestar meowed, frowning. "Kits these days..."

Bramblepaw rolled her eyes. "Shut up and tell me what you need. I'm tired and want to go back to sleep."

"You weren't sleeping," Icestar pointed out.

"That doesn't matter," Bramblepaw meowed, narrowing her eyes.

"Okay, anyway. Wait - first get Stormylight. You two are accompanying me to the super-secret-ultra-unknown place that we're going. It's going to be awesome."

Bramblepaw rolled her eyes again and padded off in search of Stormylight. A few minutes later she was back, the other tom in tow. "Hiya Icestar!" he meowed cheerfully.

"Morning, Stormylight," Icestar meowed, nodding. "It's time."

Stormylight grinned. "Already? Well, I 'spose we did gather them... but still, already? This is going to be fun! What's she here for?"

"You can't be trusted."

* * *

><p>Solitary confinement. That's what they had put him in. He didn't know why.<p>

StarClan, he didn't know who he was, let alone why he was in 'solitary confinement.'

StarClan? What was StarClan? Oh well then. So he didn't know anything. That was perfectly fine.

At least solitary confinement wasn't so bad. Every once in a while a small paw would push in a mouse or something of the sort, he'd eat it, and he'd be back to staring at the walls.

There were strange scents in this den, and if he stuck his nose close to the entrance of his den, he could smell a lot of other cats.

Why didn't he just leave? There was nothing keeping him there, was there?

He stepped through the entrance of the den. Wow. There were a lot of cats here.

"Couragestar... you join us at last," a creepy-looking black tom meowed, a look of extreme displeasure on his face.

"Um... yeah..." Couragestar - apparently that was his name. He should change it, Couragestar was such a stupid name.

* * *

><p>"You can't bring an extra," Foxstar growled, narrowing her eyes. Iciclepaw shifted from paw to paw behind her.<p>

"You did," Icestar pointed out. Foxstar snarled.

"She was originally a prophecy cat," the fluffy red she-cat meowed, narrowing her eyes. Icestar shrugged.

"Would you blame me if I said I don't trust Stormylight and O Insane One to get this done? Honestly, I think mental instability runs in the family. No offense to Midnightlight, though she's kind of got it too," he meowed, stretching. "At least we're not going down there. Though that would be fun. It's too bad this thing can only be used every two hundred years. And we're using it to get my lovely descendant back! Isn't that great?"

Foxstar turned away, muttering something about, "Stupid IceClan and their obvious protagonist-ism."

Bramblepaw looked nervous now. "I didn't think it actually existed..." she meowed quietly. "And if we want Courageflame to get better, why don't we just send down his family?"

"But where would be the fun in that?" Icestar sighed. "No, we send down an immense patrol of StarClanners and have them bring back little Icey!"

"Why me?" Bramblepaw asked. "More importantly, why Stormylight? You should've had Swiftclaw be the 'mentor of IceClan cat.'"

"Stop pointing out the mistakes!" Icestar hissed. "They'll think we're unprofessional!"

Moonstar snorted. "Too late for that," he meowed, rolling his eyes.

"Moonstar, that was incredibly un-ladylike of you," Lichenstar hissed. Moonstar looked mortified.

Icestar blinked. Oo-kay. That was weird. "Anyway, send your cats into that clearing and then that deformed cat - you know, the one that can barely walk and that we really should let rest? - will do whatever deformed cats do and send them back to the world of the living in their brand-new-body! Yay for reincarnation that's not really reincarnation because we're just making them alive again! We really should use this to reincarnate-but-not-really some really awesome cats like me!" the gray-and-white tom cheered. Bramblepaw rolled her eyes and the group of cats entered the hollow.

Said deformed cat did his deformed cat thing and the group disappeared in a flash of light.

* * *

><p><strong>Wow, how ridiculous is this story getting? Don't answer that, I don't want to know. Review!<strong>


	17. Chapter Sixteen: Nightpaw

**Eesh. It has been a while, hasn't it.**

**Frostbreeze of RiverClan: Honestly, I'm kind of lost, too. xP And it's my story. NIGHTKILL. Y U NO MAKE SENSE.**

**DaughterofZeusRules: Yeah, Icestar's POV is probably the most fun to write. Nightpaw gets so BORING sometimes.**

**AsTheDarknessFalls: I know. x3**

**Sunmist: I'm glad you love it! :D**

**Book Recommendation:**

_I've been rather obsessed with Lord of the Flies by William Golding lately..._

* * *

><p>"We lost a few days of traveling time thanks to you," Stormylight said. Nightpaw rolled his eyes.<p>

"Whatever. Hang on, aren't you usually transparent?" the black tom meowed, blinking. Stormylight grinned.

"Not now! Now we're real cats again! Me and Spinechill and Bramblepaw and Hypnos and Iciclepaw and... wasn't there another one... nah, I don't think so," Stormylight meowed shrugging.

**_Meanwhile, in nothing..._**

Scratchclaw hung in the balance of the real world and StarClan. "Guys?" she called. "I think something went wrong!"

**Back to real world**

"Okay..." Nightpaw meowed, blinking. Nothing made any sense anymore.

**Has anything ever made any sense?**

_Point taken._

"But if there's a thing that can make you real again, why doesn't StarClan just send down a whole bunch of cats?" Featherpaw asked, a look of confusion crossing his face. Stormylight rolled his eyes.

"We couldn't do that, that would make sense!" he said. "Silly apprentice."

"Shouldn't we be going if you're so worried about losing time?" Nightpaw asked. Stomylight thought about that for a bit.

"Let's just go," a tiny calico that Nightpaw faintly recognized but really had no idea who it was. "Hey! She-cat that's sleeping! Wake up!"

The calico prodded a sleeping Ivypaw with her front paw. Ivypaw yawned and stretched, standing up.

"I had the weirdest dream. There was this river, and a totally random cat that will be never mentioned again, and it was weird..." Ivypaw trailed off, blinking sleep out of her eyes. Stormylight considered this.

"That is a weird dream! But it's not a sign from StarClan, if it was, then we would know about it," he meowed. Nightpaw rolled his eyes. These cats were idiots.

**Idiot by association.**

_Shut up._

* * *

><p>He missed his Midnight. But he wasn't even sure if she was real, or if he was real, or if this was just some big hallucination of his.<p>

He hated the feeling of helplessness it gave him.

* * *

><p>They stood there for a while. The calico that looked familiar but Nightpaw had no idea who she was looked like she wanted to get moving, but no-one else seemed to care at all. Finally, she broke the silence.<p>

"Shouldn't we be going somewhere?" she asked. "This is getting boring, and I'm pretty sure we were sent down here for a reason."

"Oh yeah, to get mini-Icestar," Stormylight meowed. He looked like he'd rather do something less exhausting.

**That's wishful thinking. You just want to do something 'less exhausting.**

_Shut up. I don't care if we ever get Icestar back. He was a suckish leader, anyway._

**Ah ah ah, that's treasonous thinking.**

_I don't really care._

* * *

><p><strong>I'm sorry this was so short, but I've got a load of things to do, and I think it's goodish, so, here you go. :P I promise the next chapter will be longer. IT WILL.<strong>

**/i've been into lord of the flies lately and it's making me get behind on all of my fanfictions not just this one so blame jack x roger please**


	18. Chapter Seventeen: Nightpaw

**Ah, it has been a while. xP But I'm back to updating this on a weekly basis. :D **

**DaughterOfZeusRules: **Psh, all the good characters do the killing. Team Savage~ Um, but, thanks. :3 I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter.

**Sunmist: **Yeah, sorry about the confusing-ness. X3 I'm glad you enjoyed it, though.

**dragonFELL: **Ahaha, I know what you mean about being out of reading fanfiction. xP My prime fanfiction-reading thing has been lost for the past month, and I just got it back, so I've been behind. But, I'm glad you like my insane characters. :3 I like them too. And trusting Stormylight with anything even remotely important would just be outright stupid.

**Frostbreeze of RiverClan: **I complimented on my description more than I think I should; I've always thought that was my weakest thing in writing. xP But, thanks for the compliment, this chapter's a filler, but, hey, it's a flashback filler, and those are always fun! :D

* * *

><p>"<em>Clans, they're called?"<em>

_The red she-cat flicked her tail irritably. "That's what I just said. And because we can't decide who should be leader-"_

"_I still think we should fight to the death…" a silver tom murmured, glared around at the others. The first one that had spoken, a smallish gray-and-white tom, snorted._

"_That's just because you'd watch us kill each other and take the leadership," he pointed out. The silver tom sniffed. _

"_Precisely. But if you insist on breaking up into clans, you must provide more information."_

"_Well, there were four – but there are only three of us, so I suppose we'll have four clans. Mine shall be FoxClan, and then IceClan, and MoonClan-"_

"_I'm sorry to intrude, but I heard you speaking of leadership. I am called Night," a dark tabby she-cat with yellow eyes entered their conversation. "I have already gathered quite a few followers, so do not doubt my ability to lead."_

_The gray-and-white tom grinned. "And now we've got four."_

* * *

><p>Nightpaw stumbled after the others, yawning. Spinechill had thought it a <em>great <em>idea to wake them up ages before the sun rose so they could walk. The only good thing about being up this early was the fact that Daypaw wasn't awake yet-

_**Miss me?**_

Or not. Okay. There was nothing good about this stupid journey. The other two IceClan cats were annoying; one a stupid, irresponsible old cat and the other a snappish, violent she-cat. In other words, Nightpaw was at the rear of the group, ignoring everyone and just focusing on staying awake.

_**Ya know, it's yer own fault for not going ta sleep sooner.**_

_Shut up. _

_**But that wouldn't be any fun!**_

* * *

><p>"<em>I'm expecting kits."<em>

_He was frozen. He – this couldn't be happening. They were of different clans – StarClan, he was even the leader of his. They couldn't have kits. They couldn't. It was just… it wouldn't work. _

"_You're kidding… right?" he asked. She shook her head. He stared at the ground. "You'll take care of them, right?"_

"_I thought you might like to have one…" she said, looking at him through her large green eyes that contrasted so nicely with her white fur. "To remember me by. We can't continue with this."_

_He nodded, switching his gaze from her back to the ground. His son would be great – if not by nature, by force. _

* * *

><p>"Can't we stop for a rest?"<p>

_**Aw, the lil NightyClan kitty wants a rest!**_

_Yes, we've established that. It doesn't look like Spinechill's going to let us rest, though._

"No."

_Told you._

The little IceClan calico – her name was Bramblepaw, not 'little violent IceClan calico' – rolled her eyes. "Come on, just a little rest. We're all tired."

"I'm not," Spinechill pointed out. "Neither is Hypnos."

"Yeah, but none of us are even sure why Hypnos is here. Wasn't he FoxClan?"

"Yep."

Nightpaw rolled his eyes. These cats were all insane. They were never going to get anywhere if everyone kept arguing.

_**Yer arguin' with yourself, so I wouldn't be judgin'.**_

_Shut up._

* * *

><p>"<em>Race you!"<em>

_He chased his brother, leaping over bushes and fallen trees, keeping the dark gray tail in his sight. Their first day as apprentices, and their mentors – the only good one left was being saved for the halfclan kit – had just let them loose._

_Not that he was complaining, of course. _

_Suddenly, his brother stopped. He skidded to a stop, too, almost running into the other tom. "Go away!"_

_He peeked around his brother's shoulder, only to see a small, injured black she-cat. Very injured. His mind was suddenly filled with herbs that could heal this, herbs that he'd learned when he'd been stuck in the medicine cat den for near a moon because of an annoying, infected gash in his side. _

"_We have to help her!"_

"_Why? She's not of any clan, and she's probably around our age, so it's not like it's a kit in need."_

"_Shadepaw, you were stuck in there for ages, you have to know how we can save her."_

"_I told you idiots, I'm fine!" the she-cat snarled. His brother looked at her. Shadepaw rolled his eyes. This cat was infatuated. But if Shadepaw didn't save the she-cat, Couragepaw would mope for _ages. _So he probably should help._

* * *

><p>"Can we have a rest <em>now?<em>"

* * *

><p>"<em>You're it!"<em>

_The tiny white kit scrambled away from the calico, giggling madly. The calico chased after him, a determined look on her face. With a flying leap, the white kit was pinned down. "You're it!" the calico decided, biting the older kit's ear. _

_Their game turned into a wrestling match, and they rolled across the camp, taking no notice of the annoyed warriors. They eventually stopped at the paws of the white kit's father, their leader, Lightstar. _

"_What are you two doing?"_

* * *

><p>"Fine! We can rest!" Spinechill growled, sitting down. Featherpaw cheered, flopping to the ground and falling asleep immediately. Nightpaw rolled his eyes and sat down as well, licking his faintly scraped pads.<p>

_**Spiney's a lil irritated.**_

_Really? I hadn't noticed._

_**No need for the sarcasm…**_

Bramblepaw stretched out beside him. "So, how's Ice?"

"Ice?" Nightpaw meowed, blinking. Bramblepaw rolled her eyes.

"Iceheart. Wait – Icestar. StarClan, I still remember him as an apprentice, it's hard to even think of him as a warrior…"

"Oh, you're the she-cat that everyone talks about. Icestar's future mate-"

Before he could finish his sentence, Bramblepaw tackled him, pinning him to the ground. Nightpaw stared up at her. "I was not his future mate," she snarled. "Get your facts straight."

_**You should make a move. This could be the closest you'll ever get ta a she-cat.**_

_Shut up._

* * *

><p><strong>And here we go. :D I hope you enjoyed this, though it was a filler. xP <strong>


	19. Chapter Eighteen: Shatteredheart

**And here we go again. :D**

**Frostbreeze of RiverClan: **Haha, thanks. x3 I'm glad you're not confused anymore. I think from now on whenever I have 'filler' written in my notes for this, I'll probably just do a flashback one, because they're so much fun.

* * *

><p>After making sure Lionspark and Spiderwhisker didn't sneak away to 'terrorize innocent IceClan apprentices', Shatteredheart treated herself to a mouse. She chewed slowly, hoping that nobody would show up and interrupt her peace. She hadn't had very much solitude lately, with her apprentice bothering her about Ivypaw disappearing…<p>

Which was bad, yes. But Dapplepaw would try to make Shatteredheart search for Ivypaw every minute of every day. They'd already spent a day looking, and one thing Ivypaw was good at was hiding. If Ivypaw didn't want to be found, she wouldn't be found.

Either the she-cat had run away, been captured and taken far away, or she was just hiding somewhere in the territory. Shatteredheart would bet her deputy-ship – which was probably going soon as soon as Shimmerstar found a silver tom – on the third option.

"Shatteredheart!"

And there Dapplepaw was again. The lithe she-cat burst through the ferns that decorated the entrance to camp and headed straight for the deputy. "What is it now?" Shatteredheart asked, managing to keep her tone even.

"Well, me and Turtlepaw were looking for Ivypaw, and we ran into a group of IceClan cats, and they're holding Turtlepaw captive until I come get you. And Shimmerstar. And Jumppaw. And one of the kits," Dapplepaw said. Shatteredheart blinked.

"You need me, Shimmerstar, Jumppaw, and a kit? Why?"

Dapplepaw shrugged. "The creepy black cat said so. Not Strikeheart, but he was there too… the other creepy one. He didn't smell fully IceClan yet."

Shatteredheart sighed. "Go grab a kit. Maybe we'll be able negotiate for something that won't end up with us handing over a kit."

Shatteredheart went to find Shimmerstar. It was around sun-high, so he'd probably be taking his midday nap. She pushed into his den. "Shimmerstar? Um, we need you."

Shatteredheart had had a little crush on Shimmerstar when they were both apprentices, and how _adorable _he looked now only brought it back.

She shook her head free of those thoughts. Shimmerstar sighed and stretched. "Really? I was hoping for more of a nap than that…"

"It's IceClan."

"What's the problem?"

"Dapplepaw came rushing into camp saying that she needs you, me, a kit, and Jumppaw all on IceClan's demands. They're holding Turtlepaw hostage."

Shimmerstar nodded, blue eyes suddenly serious. "Let's do this."

* * *

><p>He had no idea what they were doing. That was completely true. He was just following them, and they were going to one of the other groups of cats.<p>

He lived in a gigantic group of cats. He'd heard the weird cat – Strikeheart? Was that his name? – say the name of their group every time he forgot it.

Which was about every three seconds, but, whatever.

* * *

><p>"See, you're gonna give us that kit and two apprentices or we'll come murder your whole clan!" the creepy black cat said. "Isn't that fun?"<p>

Shatteredheart rolled her eyes and kept her gaze of Shimmerstar. He seemed to be considering this. And though Shatteredheart wanted him to refuse, she knew it would be smarter to lose a kit and two apprentices.

"Fine," Shimmerstar said. "Apprentices, you may decide between yourselves who is going."

"I'm going," Jumppaw said, taking a step toward the IceClan cats. Turtlepaw nodded as well. Shatteredheart figured it would be best that Turtlepaw went; after all, she was young.

That changed when she heard why they needed apprentices.

"Well, The Games shall be fun," the creepy black cat said. "Lilacpaw and Grasspaw will have some competition."

"What are The Games?" Shimmerstar asked, tilting his head to the side. The creepy black cat smirked.

"Oh, you'll get an invitation, but I'll tell you anyway. Two apprentices from each clan are going to fight to the death. The last one standing wins."

* * *

><p><strong>I'm <strong>_**totally **_**not ripping off The Hunger Games.**


	20. Chapter Nineteen: Nightpaw

**I may not be able to update next Friday; I'm going to a camp Tuesday through Thursday, and that means three chapters of other stuff to do, too… actually, I probably will be able to… whatever. On to review replies!**

**DaughterofZeusRules: **Ooh, Camp NaNo? I thought about doing that, but I've got fanfiction to write. xP And a novel that needs more subplots. And, hey, I'm looking forward to writing the Games, who's worse? Cx

**Frostbreeze of RiverClan: **Haha, I'm glad you think so. x) Thanks for reviewing.

* * *

><p>Spinechill growled. "Twolegplace," he muttered under his breath. Nightpaw rolled his eyes and kept walking, ignoring the fact that everyone else had stopped.<p>

"We have to get through. It'll take longer to get around," he said.

_**Wow! An intelligent comment!**_

_Shut up._

Featherpaw shifted from paw to paw. "But… Twolegplace? Seriously? We could get eaten!"

"I'm pretty sure it's more dangerous back there," Nightpaw pointed out. Daypaw was laughing at him. He ignored it. "We can't just run away-"

"That's right! Because you're surrounded!"

"Great job, Nightpaw," Bramblepaw snorted.

_**I like this she-cat. She knows tha' you're stupid.**_

_For the last time, SHUT UP. _

_**Nah. This's too fun.**_

A black cat, probably no bigger than Nightpaw, stepped into view. He held his head high, blue eyes narrowed. "You have trespassed."

"I don't smell anyone," Hypnos chirped. "You just lying, kid?"

"No!" the cat said, answering a bit too quickly. "Why would I lie about something like that?"

"I'm not sure. Why are you lying about something like that?"

* * *

><p>The apprentices were kept in the… what was it called? Oh, yes, the Elder's Den.<p>

He wasn't quite sure why they kept old cats around; it wasn't like they did anything…

Oh, yeah, 'tradition.'

Which was stupid.

* * *

><p>"Okay! Okay! I'll tell you," the cat said. He stood up, grooming dirt out of his fur. "I am Spider. I… well, this is my first time being out on my own, and I wanted to bring back a few cats. To show that I can handle myself <em>and <em>be useful."

Hypnos wrinkled his nose. "Hold on… black fur, blue eyes, are you a-"

"No. I don't know what you're talking about. Shut up. Leave me alone," Spider said, narrowing his eyes again. Hypnos rolled his eyes.

"Whatever you say."

_**This kit's pretty entertainin'. **_

_Shut up, he's annoying._

_**He's a lot like you.**_

_No! No, he definitely is not like me. Shut up. _

_**Tha's what you think.**_

_Shut. Up._

"Is he okay?"

The inner argument was broken up by Spider, looking more than a bit confused.

"Oh, he does that sometimes," Featherpaw said.

"He's got an interesting cat in there named Daypaw!" Stormylight said, never giving up his happy tone. Spider rolled his eyes.

"All of you cats have problems," he muttered under his breath.

Something boring and uneventful probably would have happened, but just then, a large tabby burst through the group to stand before Spider. "What are you _doing_, out here all by yourself? Do you have a death wish?"

"I was trying to prove that I can handle myself," Spider said, glaring at his paws. "And I can! I captured them, see?"

"Looks more like they captured you," the cat snorted. Nightpaw glanced at the group. Hm, eight cats surrounding one. Yeah, the big tabby was right. This black cat was kind of an idiot.

_**An' there's another reason why he's like you…**_

_SHUT UP._

Spider slipped to stand outside of the group. "There. Happy now, Jay?" he said, still looking sullenly at the ground. Jay sighed.

"Whatever. We'll have to take these cats back to the main house; your father can decide their fate there," he said.

"I knew it!" Hypnos said. "He is a-"

"Let's just go already," Spider growled, padding away.

* * *

><p><strong>Ah, sorry this is so short. :P I hope it was interesting, at least? <strong>


	21. Chapter Twenty: Flashbacks

**Ah, more flashback fillers! :D These flashback fillers will include lots of twoleg-y stuff. Like the twolegplace cats, such as Spider and Hypnos and maybe some Jay…**

**DaughterofZeusRules: **Haha. Cx Yeah, even though I don't really have anything I'm doing, I've got lots of writing stuffs to finish up. Like… this. All of my other fanfiction. I should probably get back to my 80 Divisions… more subplots and whatnot…. Anyway, I hope you like this chapter!

* * *

><p>"<em>So close…" <em>

"_He would be a great King, if only he didn't have those white patches."_

"_Such a failure."_

_Storm sighed and backed away from the door. He didn't want to hear any more about how much of a failure he was for having white patches mixed in with his black fur. His brother, Rain, was perfect in every way – thick black fur, clear blue eyes; he even had the perfectly shaped head. Storm would have been perfect if not for those damned white patches. _

_Rain was going to be the next King, there was no doubt about it. Storm was going to have to be an Advisor at most, because there was no way they'd let him stay a Prince. _

_What if he just ran away? _

* * *

><p>"<em>You are a Guardian. You are going to protect the Crown Prince."<em>

_The young tabby nodded, keeping his eyes on the tom that was speaking to him. Yes, he, born into the noble house of Byrd, was to be a Guardian. Byrds were always Guardians. And he, Jay Byrd, was to be the greatest Guardian of them all._

* * *

><p>"<em>What are you doing?"<em>

_Spider looked up, innocence showing in his round blue eyes. "I'm just playing," he said. His mother snorted and shoved the other kitten away._

"_With that trash? No, you may play with your Guardian if you must play. Come with me, you have classes to attend to."_

_Spider glanced at the little white kitten he'd been playing with. "Bye…" he said. The white kitten shrugged and turned away._

"_I have to get back to my Clan anyway. I'm gonna be the leader one day."_

"_Really? I'm going to be the King of-"_

"_Come, Spider!"_

"_Bye!"_

"_Bye!"_

* * *

><p>"<em>It's called the Kingdom mostly, but it's got an official name that really doesn't make any sense. I don't even remember it all," Midnight told him. Couragepaw nodded, eyes wide, drinking in her story. "All of the Kings have blue eyes and black fur-"<em>

"_Like Lightstar?" Shadepaw interrupted. Both of them jumped; they'd forgotten he was there. "Sorry, go on."_

"_Anyway, like I was saying, they don't let you be King if you don't have the right fur and eye color. There have been loads of cats that were born into the royal family that haven't been able to be leader. One of them ran off and joined one of these clans, actually."_

"_Which one?"_

_Midnight shrugged, like it wasn't important. "I dunno… maybe… not… I have no idea, it doesn't matter, anyway."_

* * *

><p>"<em>You can't run off to Twolegplace anymore," Lightstar said. Icepaw sighed, glaring at the ground. He liked going to Twolegplace. He had a friend there. A friend that knew how awesome it was to be next in line for leadership – or Kingship, as his friend said.<em>

"_But why not?"_

"_It's not fitting for a son of the leader."_

"_Seems to me leaders can do whatever they want. I'm not even fully IceClan, that shows how much-"_

"_Enough!"_

* * *

><p><strong>I'm sorry it's so short. **

**Just a bunch of random stuff. And the first one takes place a long time before the others. And the fourth one and the second ones take place before Icepaw's and Spider's. **

**Yeah… Spider's older than you think. Not Nightpaw's age, Icestar's age… which, still is only about sixteen moons, but, y'know. Cx **


	22. Chapter TwentyOne: Cloverpaw

**I'm sorry I didn't update last week; something came up and I was unable to find the time. :P But I hope this is more than satisfactory. **

**Aaaand no review corner today. x3 **

* * *

><p>"It's time."<p>

Cloverpaw got to her paws and padded after the white IceClan she-cat – Lilacpaw was her name. Now, Cloverpaw kind of understood the IceClan cats taking apprentices from other clans, but their own clan? Sure, it was overpopulated, but it just seemed so… stupid.

But, then again, IceClan was never known for its intelligence.

The line of eight apprentices was led into a stone hollow not unlike IceClan's camp. Once the group stopped, Cloverpaw took the time to fully examine the clearing. High sides – nobody would be able to sneak away unnoticed. There were guards – and spectators, she assumed – crowded around the sides. She spotted Maplestar and took a deep breath.

She needed to win this. It didn't matter if she had to kill Olivepaw, she just needed to win and go home.

A handsome, thick-furred black tom began to speak. Beside him was the sulking Courageflame – star. "Welcome to the first annual 'Games,'" he said in a smooth, crowd-pleasing voice. "Below you, you see two apprentices from each clan. These apprentices will fight to the death, or they will all die."

Cloverpaw swallowed and glanced at the other apprentices. The only other one that looked halfway serious was Jaypaw of MoonClan. She would have to watch out for him. But she could get rid of Turtlepaw easily, she'd been announced as a new apprentice last gathering.

Cloverpaw briefly wondered if the gatherings would commence, even with crazy Courageflame/star at the 'head' of IceClan. She also wondered if Courageflame/star and the handsome black tom realized just how obvious it was that the handsome black tom was actually in charge.

"Let the games begin."

* * *

><p>This was boring. Sure, there were cats ripping each other to shreds down in the hollow, but he'd rather be sleeping.<p>

"How much longer is this going to take?" he muttered to Strikeheart. Strikeheart brushed him off.

"As long as it does," the cat meowed, watching the battle with a strange intensity. Wow. This cat was insane.

Of course, _he _–he'd forgotten his name again, why did that keep happening to him? – wasn't the perfect picture of sanity, either.

* * *

><p>Cloverpaw gasped and ducked out of Lilacpaw's way. The formerly sweet, innocent she-cat had been turned into a monster fed only by the blood of her enemies.<p>

Huh, that was a nice line.

Cloverpaw was knocked to the side by a dark gray shape. Jaypaw. She scrabbled for a hold on the ground and lashed out, catching him in the face. He backed back into the fray and Cloverpaw was left on the outskirts, breathing hard. What if she climbed a bit – there was a ledge just up there – and caught one by surprise? Good job, Cloverpaw, great idea.

She kept her eyes on the battle as she climbed, not wanting to be caught by surprise. She paused to catch her breath on the ledge, then searched for one.

There, there was Turtlepaw, limping away. She hadn't died yet. Well, that was certainly a surprise. Cloverpaw leaped down on her, screeching like a madcat. Once on top of the smaller she-cat – the younger apprentice had collapsed as soon as Cloverpaw had landed on her – Cloverpaw tore out the back of Turtlepaw's throat and shook her paws free of the lingering pain. Even with Turtlepaw to cushion her fall, it was a hard impact.

There was a black body a few feet away from Cloverpaw – Berrypaw? Oh, yes, he'd been a medicine cat apprentice. No fighting. Sucks for him.

The breath was driven out of her as someone landed on her. Cloverpaw twisted and squirmed as much as she could, effectively ripping her own shoulders to shreds in her attempt to get free. It worked, though, so she wasn't complaining.

The cat across from her was beautiful, orange, and had a touch of bloodlust in her eyes. She was breathing heavily and seemed to ignore the blood dripping into her impossibly green eyes. Cloverpaw was immediately pulled in, then shook herself free. She'd have to kill this cat to win. She couldn't start being weird.

Somehow, all of the other cats had died during the time that Cloverpaw was looking into the orange cat's eyes. What was her name? Wasn't it Firepaw? No, Flamepaw – Flamepaw of FoxClan.

And then the she-cat attacked.

Even while defending herself, Cloverpaw was able to admire Flamepaw's grace on the battlefield. Cloverpaw wasn't a bad fighter herself, but her shoulders were bothering her, and her paws were still a little sore from the jump. She soon found herself backed up against the wall, just barely defending herself from Flamepaw's attacks.

Then she saw the opening. With barely a second to decide, Cloverpaw took the opening and darted forward, grabbing onto the other she-cat's throat and ripping back, tearing it out. The beautiful orange cat gave a gurgling cry and was dead.

"Let us hail the winner of the first games – Cloverpaw of NightClan!"

* * *

><p><strong>Well that was fun. Cx I tried a weird, different style of writing, so, I hope it wasn't too suckish. <strong>

**Also, have any of you guys become weirdly addicted to those 'Book Haul' videos on YouTube? Good lord, they're awesome.**


	23. Chapter TwentyTwo: Nightpaw

**And we're back again! Can you believe that this story has been going on for almost a year? That shows just how much of a procrastinator I am. :) **

**Anyway, two reviews this time, and they were both sent by an anonymous reviewer - or 'Guest' as they're called now - so I'm just going to answer the question right now... I honestly haven't thought about Blizzardfang and Stormslayer's names. Cx Perhaps they'll be changed, though I could see Stormslayer liking hers and wanting to keep it. **

**Anyway, that's about it, so, on with the story! **

* * *

><p>It took a few days of wandering through Twolegplace before they stopped before an old, broken down Twoleg nest. Spider stalked inside with his head held high, ignoring all of the black-furred she-cats that came to fuss over him.<p>

"Follow me!" he said. His voice had an air of command now and he somehow looked less like the scared kit he'd been when they first met him.

_**Scared kit? I think he's aroun' Iceystar's age.**_

_That's impossible. He's tiny._

_**So's our little Iceystar.**_

_Shut up._

Nightpaw ignored the rest of Daypaw's comments and followed Spider. A lot of the cats were staring at Hypnos for some weird reason. Nightpaw dismissed it as irrelevant and continued on.

Spider led them through a confusing maze of cats and other weird objects. Nightpaw wondered if all Twoleg nests were this confusing.

_**Nope. Jus' the Palace of the Kingdom of Hyacintho Nox. **_

_The kingdom of _what?

_**Hyacintho Nox. Means blue-black. Like Spidey's eyes and fur color. Ask Hypnos about it. He knows.**_

Daypaw was being quite irritating, so Nightpaw just decided to ignore him again and focus on following Spider. Eventually they came to a large, ornate slab of tree.

"Aranea Hyacintho Nox requests entry?" Spider said. He glanced at the clan cats and continued speaking. "I am joined by Jay Flavus Striata, Nocte Flavus Nox, Procellae Hyacintho Striata, Rubus Viridi Macula..."

Nightpaw kind of zoned out after that, seeing as Spider - or Aranea, apparently, that seriously sounded like a she-cat name - was just listing off random names. Eventually he stopped and the slab of tree swung open. Spider entered first, as usual.

"Where did you find these ones?" another tom, one that looked remarkably like Spider, asked.

"They were tresspassing. Jay and I caught them," Spider said. "I would like to request a room for them? They are..."

"Questing," Hypnos said, stepping forward to stand just a bit farther away from the tom than Spider. "We have been granted a quest from our King and have stumbled into your Kingdom by mistake. We apologize for our misconduct."

"And you are?"

"My name is Tempestas Hyacintho Macula. And you are Prince - no, King now, correct? - Caelum Hyacintho Nox."

* * *

><p>"Couragestar!"<p>

Once again, it took him a while to remember that the weird black cat was talking to him. Couragestar was probably the weirdest name a cat could have. Apart from that cat's name which was... uh... he couldn't quite remember, but it was weird.

Come to think of it, all of these cat's names were weird. Like... like that one that had just left a little bit ago! The only name he could remember because it was so weird - Pineapple. It sounded cheerful, but the cat was possibly the creepiest cat he - uh... Couragestar? - had ever met.

Yeah.

This place was weird.

* * *

><p>"Nocte, Tempestas, you come with me," Spider said. He glanced at the others. "For the rest of you, Jay will show you a place to stay."<p>

It took Nightpaw a bit to realize that Spider was talking to him. He followed Spider and Hypnos down the hall, not especially concerned that everyone else was going back down to the ground floor.

_**Idiot.**_

_What? _

Daypaw scoffed and was silent.

As soon as they entered a smaller, more private looking room, Hypnos began to talk. "You're rather good at the making of names."

"I used to have an older brother, so I studied name-making for a bit," Spider said. "He died. But you - _Tempestas? _You can't be serious. If you really were Tempestas, you would be dead, or much older than you are now."

"It's complicated. After I joined the Clans, I died, and by some weird freak of nature, I've been made alive again."

Spider turned a wary eye on Nightpaw. "You aren't a dead-to-alive, are you?"

Nightpaw shook his head. "And Nocte? What does that mean?"

"Night. The name I gave you means Night Yellow Black. I simply gave you a Kingdom name, as I did with all the others. You're from the Clans too, right?"

Nightpaw nodded.

"Do you know a cat with the name of Icepaw?"

Nightpaw blinked. Surely he couldn't mean Icestar... "I... was he small, white and blue-eyed, extremely annoying?"

Spider snorted. "I guess you could say so."

"Our quest is to find him."

Spider's eyes widened. "He's gone? Where?"

"We don't know. That's why we're going to find him," Nightpaw said slowly. "And why am I here?"

"You've got half-royal colors," Spider said, flicking his tail dismissively. "And could I help you with your Quest?"

* * *

><p><strong>...I had fun with Google translate. Cx I needed cool names, so I made them all Latin-based, and as a result, <strong>_**I Write Like **_**says I write like J.K. Rowling. Cx**

**On a completely unrelated note, my birthday is next Monday and I'm going to go spend lots of money on books. For some reason I decided to share that. Cx Not sure why, but it's awesome. **


	24. Chapter TwentyThree: Flashbacks

**Okay, so, thank you to RogerFromLOTFObsessor. Cx She reviewed EVERY. SINGLE. CHAPTER. So, I can thank her for my 100****th**** review as well. Cx Thank you so, so much. You're my favorite. **

**Review Replies! **

**(even though only RogerFromLOTFObsessor reviewed… this could get a bit long.)**

**ROGERFROMLOTFOBSESSOR: **Nobody really liked Lightstar. Cx That's basically why Courageflame/star wasn't all that upset about his death. And I'm glad you like Nightpaw. Cx Everybody seems to. I love Icestar; he's my favorite one to write, actually. And oh gosh, I totally forgot about Ivypaw. Cx She's even a main character… and I don't see one in my plans. xP Oops. I'll see if I can fit some backstory in on this filler… Not sure when the next games'll be, or if there will be one – now FoxClan's supply of apprentices is completely wiped out. Yeah. Of course, IceClan's completely fun because they're overpopulated and whatnot.

* * *

><p>"<em>I'm worried about her. Shouldn't she be speaking by now?" <em>

_Ivykit glanced between her mother and the other cat, eyes wide. She wondered what was going on. The other cat looked her straight in the eyes, and Ivykit took a small step back. The other cat studied her for a bit, then turned back to her mother._

"_There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with her. Just give her a little bit of time; she'll be okay."_

_The next few days of Ivykit's life were filled with her mother and Dapplekit trying to make her talk. Dapplekit talked _all _the time, so Ivykit didn't see why she had to talk, too. Dapplekit talked enough for both of them._

_But one morning Longpaw, who had been made an apprentice just a few days before, stopped by the nursery. Dapplekit and her mother were sleeping. "Hiya Ivykit!" Longpaw meowed. "Whatcha doin'?"_

_Ivykit swallowed and opened her mouth. She stood for a few moments, then closed her mouth and swallowed again. Longpaw flicked his tail back and forth. Ivykit stood there. Longpaw waited for a few more moments, then turned to walk away._

"_Well, see you later!"_

"_W-wait!"_

_It seemed like everyone in the camp stopped what they were doing and turned to look at Ivykit. Silverlight, the medicine cat, asked in an awed whisper, "Did you just speak?"_

_Ivykit shrugged. _

* * *

><p>"<em>Are you sure we're allowed to do this?" Icepaw hissed. Bramblepaw nodded, rolling her eyes. <em>

"_C'mon Icey, where's your sense of adventure? It'll be fine," she said. Icepaw swallowed, nodded, and kept his eyes on the Thunderpath. At the moment there weren't any cars speeding along it, but still… he didn't feel comfortable sneaking into another clan's territory like this. _

"_Bramblepaw…"_

"_What, scared?"_

_Icepaw shook his head and sunk his claws into the soft earth by the Thunderpath. Okay. He could do this. They were just going to sneak over the Thunderpath, hunt a little, then come right back. And nobody would be the wiser. _

_They both stood on their side for a while longer until Icepaw finally built up the courage to just do it. "I'll go across first," he said, forcing a smirk. "After all, I am a tom."_

"_What does that have to do with anything?"_

"_Just the fact that I'm automatically stronger," Icepaw said, smirking at her again and crossing the Thunderpath in slow, precise movements. He couldn't seem scared, because he was Icepaw, son of Lightstar. He had to be the most confident, bravest cat in the clan. _

_Bramblepaw copied his movements, though he figured that hers was less of a 'need to keep the right image' and more of a 'I'm actually not terrified out of my wits right now.' _

_Icepaw heard a weird noise, but he ignored it. It couldn't be anything – wait._

"_Bramblepaw!" he yelled. "Bramblepaw, run!"_

_She looked at him like he was idiot. _

_That was the last look she ever gave him._

_Icepaw crouched in the brambles until the monster passed by, then swallowed and padded over to where Bramblepaw's body was. "Bramblepaw?" he asked, voice quavering. "Bramblepaw?"_

* * *

><p><em>They were an unnerving pair – they were exact duplicates except for the color of their eyes. And they talked the same, moved the same, it was like they were one cat split into two bodies. Midnightlight wasn't sure she liked them.<em>

_Except she was pretty sure the golden-eyed one liked her. The blue-eyed one could care less about the random black rogue that had been trespassing on this territory for God-knows-how-long, but the golden-eyed one wouldn't stop following her around._

_And there he was again._

_Midnightlight looked for a quick hiding place, but he saw her before she could make a move. Damn. "What do you want?"_

"_I wanted to see you," the cat meowed, shifting uncomfortably. "I'm a warrior now, you know. My name's Courageflame."_

"_Good for you," Midnightlight meowed, turning to walk away._

"_Wait! I… I wanted to ask you if you wanted to join IceClan? Because I really like you and I want you to join IceClan so I'm not breaking the warrior code and I'm sure Lightstar won't mind because his mate was in another clan so surely he won't mind you joining because you seem like a very capable fighter and hunter and-"_

"_Slow down," Midnightlight said. "You want me to join IceClan?"_

"_Yes," Courage asked, eyes bright._

"_Eh, why not?"_

* * *

><p><strong>And there we go! Random backstory, hooray!<strong>

**Sorry that this is a little short, but I've actually got a lot of stuff to do today… a lot of stuff. Cx So, I hope you enjoyed and see you next week! :D**


	25. Chapter TwentyFour: Sunheart

**And here we go. :3 **

**We also introduce some new dead characters in this chapter. Mostly because I've been obsessing over The Long Walk lately (read: I obsessively check the Long Walk tag on Tumblr every three seconds to see if there is new fanart, even though I'm following everyone in that fandom. All five of us follow each other.), but also because I need more characters. So they're based off of Long Walk characters.**

**(The Long Walk by Stephen King. READ IT. READ IT NOW.)**

**And we've got no reviews, so, no review corner today.**

**Anyway. On with the chapter.**

* * *

><p>Sunheart was sunning herself with Windtail, one of the cats she'd grown to like during her time in StarClan. The tom was a former FoxClan cat, but such clan boundaries didn't really exist in StarClan. She was having a fairly nice day, as all days were in Starclan.<p>

And then the Dark Forest cats came.

They were led by a cat with no visible fur on him. He was quite possibly the ugliest cat Sunheart had ever seen. Standing beside him was probably the prettiest cat she'd ever seen – he looked familiar, like she'd seen him before.

Windtail narrowed his eyes. "The Dark Forest," he hissed. Sunheart looked at him.

"H-how can you be sure? We don't know, maybe they're just… maybe they're just some of those cats that don't like to be around other cats," Sunheart offered. Windtail shook his head and flicked his tail to two cats near the end.

"See them? I was apprentices with them. Shadowcloud and Flameclaw. There's no way they got into StarClan; they're the worst cats I've ever known," he said. Sunheart blinked. She'd rarely heard Windtail speak against any other cat. "And the white one – that's Rabbitfur. He was an apprentice with us, too. Not sure why he's in the Dark Forest, but, then again, he always kept to himself."

Sunheart nodded, looking over the cats. She didn't recognize any of them, and thought of Strikeheart. He was headed for the Dark Forest, surely. The thought made her sad. The Strikeheart she'd loved wasn't like this. _I guess I never really knew him at all, _she thought.

The furless one spoke. "Where are the four originals?" he asked. His meow was sharp, grating, and hurt Sunheart's ears. Windtail stood up.

"Follow me." His meow was oddly stiff. Sunheart watched as the cats went past. Flameclaw winked at her, and she averted her eyes. He didn't seem so bad, really. None of these cats seemed too bad, apart from the furless one. She wondered what they'd done to deserve the Dark Forest.

* * *

><p>He needed to get out of there. Get out of there and see Midnightlight. Where was Shadestorm? If Courageflame was actually leader, shouldn't Shadestorm be the deputy? Why was control-freak-Strikeheart deputy? What the Dark Forest was going on?<p>

He decided to check in the forest – after all, maybe Shadestorm was just hunting. The fact that there was little to no Shadestorm scent anywhere in the camp didn't matter, no, Shadestorm was okay… right? Right…

* * *

><p>They ran into some of Windtail's other friends – Scarface and Brightfur – on the way there. They both seemed incredibly shocked and more than a little annoyed at the Dark Forest's arrival, but they joined them on the way to see the four original leaders, keeping far away from Shadowcloud, Flameclaw, and Rabbitfur.<p>

"What's this?" Icestar asked. "Dark Forest cats? Well, that's certainly something you don't see every day, now is it? Why are they here, Sunheart?"

"I don't know," Sunheart said. "Me and Windtail – we were just talking and they showed up."

Icestar nodded carefully, looking at the cats. "Sharpfang. Azurefeather. Why are you here?"

The pretty cat answered this time – Azurefeather, Sunheart figured. "We're sick of being in the Dark Forest, Ice. We're taking over here."

Icestar narrowed his eyes, and Shadowcloud laughed. It was the laugh of a cat that was completely and utterly insane. "Can't believe it, can you, Dumbo?"

"Shut up killer," Scarface snapped. Shadowcloud was silent, glaring at Scarface. Flameclaw rolled his eyes.

"You've killed too, Scarface," Flameclaw meowed.

"Not in cold blood."

"Shadowcloud was provoked."

"Okay, okay, shut up all of you," Icestar said. "The only one that's allowed to talk is Sharpfang or Azurefeather, okay? Okay. So. What are you planning on doing if we don't let you in?'

Sharpfang grinned. "We're going to attack."

* * *

><p><strong>Ahem. Yeah. Random slippage in of Long Walk characters, yes.<strong>

**So. Have a nice week.**


	26. Done

**Okay.**

**So.**

**I think this story is going on hiatus. **

**Or maybe it'll just be done.**

**I'm not into Warriors and I haven't been for a while… and while I love my characters and whatnot… writing this has kind of become a chore.**

**So, farewell. :)**


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